International Military - As a reminder, a security alliance called Quad has launched its plan to monitor Indo-Pacific waters using satellites. Who are they monitoring? Namely Chinese fishermen who are known to fish in the area without a permit or illegally. Including in the South China Sea, the region of Southeast Asian countries.
The Quad aims to establish sieges near China's seas including the Taiwan Strait, the Senkaku (Diaoyudao) Islands in the East China Sea, and the South China Sea in disputes between China and Southeast Asian nations, and the Pacific, Donga.com reports. Quad has also built frameworks in trade, technology and maritime security.
The idea for a satellite launch by the Quad allows countries in the region concerned to monitor illegal fishing, even when the ship turns off its transponder, according to the Financial Times. Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell has said that the Quad will soon announce plans to combat illegal fishing.
In fact, several countries in the Indo-Pacific are really "fighting" this illegal fishing by China. The Japan Times added that the countries even said that Chinese ships frequently violated their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and caused environmental damage and economic losses.
In addition, Chinese vessels have been accused of fishing without a permit at least 237 times between 2015 and 2019. They have also done the same in Vanuatu, Palau, Malaysia and South Korea in recent years, Al-Jazeera news agency reports. Hundreds of Chinese boats were also found fishing for squid, with transponders turned off in North Korean waters.
Apart from illegal fishing, China's fishing fleet is also accused of targeting endangered and protected marine life around the world. Quoting Al-Jazeera, the marine life includes sharks, dolphins and seals.
The idea of forming a security alliance Quad was born in the 2004 Tsunami and was formalized after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's “Confluence of the Seas” speech in 2007. The speech campaigned for conceptualizing a new geographic theater, the Indo-Pacific, news agency News18 reported.
However, the four countries (US, India, Japan and Australia) at that time did not have a “common page” or did not have a common enemy. It wasn't until 2017, the group came back to life, because? Chinese threat.
In theoretical terms, the Quad is an international relations group designed to balance external parties. The rise of the Quad is in line with the rise of China, especially in the maritime domain, where these four countries have economic interests there.
Including strategic sea routes in the Indo-Pacific to remain free from military or from any political influence. In this case, the Quad is tasked with maintaining “maritime security” which, broadly conceptualized, means maritime disputes between nations, maritime terrorism, piracy, trafficking, weapons proliferation, illegal fishing, environmental crimes, or marine accidents and disasters.
And in 2020, where these four countries run joint exercises in the Indian-led Malabar Naval Exercise. This is the group's first joint military exercise and reinforces their commitment to providing security in the region.
Because of this, they enjoy an unprecedented level of information and intelligence exchange, personnel interaction, interoperable equipment, and cooperative habits. The four countries also have extensive bilateral logistics agreements between their navies and increased capabilities to provide security in the region concerned.
Finally, the “maritime security” that the Quad stands for includes illegal fishing, human and arms trafficking, and piracy that threatens important sea lines.