China and the US share maritime security concerns and interests and should pull together for better ocean governance

The governance of the world's oceans is indispensable to maritime security, which is essential for world trade. Maritime security concerns involve such issues as piracy, environmental pollution, sea lines of communication (SLOC) and illegal fishing.

China's development strategy and economic security are closely connected with the sea. But there are maritime interests and concerns for China that need monitoring. Its two highest priorities are the safe passage of its foreign trade and guaranteeing the supply of its energy imports.

Whether the shipping lanes are impeded or not has a direct bearing on China's foreign trade and national economy. As the world's biggest goods exporter, 90 percent of China's foreign trade relies on international shipping, while in 2009, China's dependence on oil imports, mainly from the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, reached 56 percent, most of it shipped in tankers. China will import about 7.3 million barrels of crude oil a day up until 2020. China's economic development has also stimulated more enterprises and individuals to "go out" into the world and these overseas interests require protection.

With deepening globalization and the rapid pace of China's global emergence, China and the United States are interacting more at sea, resulting in potential disputes and conflicts.

But there are major differences between the two countries in their approach and attitude toward the oceans.

The United States attaches major importance to geopolitics and one of the core parts of its global strategy is maintaining the current maritime imbalance and ensuring its dominance of the oceans by controlling the chokepoints of the world's seas.

The US thinks that China's growing naval force is a potential challenge to its superpower status and its dominance in the region. Even though China's military is still in the process of modernization, and its naval equipment and technology remain weak.

China believes that the US holds a Cold War mentality, regards China as a strategic rival, attempts to control China's surrounding seas and limits China's maritime interests.

Their interpretations of international maritime law also differ: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS) represents the modern maritime legal system and reflects the common interests of the majority of countries. However, the US refuses to sign the LOS Convention, much less its implementation, as it thinks that the 11th part of the convention, relating to deep seabed mining, is against its interests.