China's aggressive claims to parts of the South China Sea contested by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brunei is damaging regional cooperation against piracy, allowing more attacks — 41 so far this year after 30 last year. Naval exercises with the United States this week do include anti-piracy drills but the main aim has become establishing sovereignty.
The lack of hiding and mooring space for large vessels still makes piracy in the region a tough business, but the recent move in Southeast Asia from robbing crews to hijacking vessels is a worrying development.
Although this may simply indicate that pirates have rebuilt their bases after the 2004 tsunami, they are coordinating attacks and moving up from opportunistic robbery.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.