The world has been dominated by the "West" since 1492. Yet, the history is too complex and, ironically, too simple, to be told in one breath, given the fact that it was nothing but wave after wave of colonialism.
One can of course side with the thesis of Robinson and Gallagher, a theory often taught to students of Harvard University, that more often than not, Western powers such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States were all "sucked" into local conflicts.
One can witness the isolationist tendencies of the US even now, or the brazen attempt of the UK to withdraw from the European Union — a sign that great powers' tendencies to subject everyone to permanent conquest exist as sheer fact, but also as myth.
A great power like China should not misread history. They are being encircled by the West and Japan, and potentially India and the EU, too. As Professor He Kai at Griffith University pointed out in an op-ed in the South China Morning Post, if a large part of the world is suspicious of the grand designs of China, it is high time to seek some deep "self-introspection".
One of those issues is the seemingly rapacious nature of Chinese civilian fishing fleets. Be they in the South or East China Sea, they often venture far. A report by The Guardian, a reliable British newspaper that specialises in fact checking all materials before publishing them, has found more than 300 illegal Chinese vessels fishing off the coast of Ecuador!
This is not a trivial matter at all. If Chinese fishing fleets can spend up to 73,000 hours fishing in the territorial waters of Ecuador (www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/25/can-anyone-stop-china-vast-a...), then something must be remiss. This is not the first time.
When these Chinese fishing fleets are there, they switch off their communications system, making them a nuisance to other ships and coastguards that have to guard the territorial waters of Ecuador, which is at the top of Latin America (uk.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-environment-china-idUKKCN25E2XI).
Imagine the same thing happening in the waters of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Sarawak and Sabah! The value of marine life in Malaysian waters is estimated to be close to US$1.3 billion. Indonesia? In recent months, even President Joko Widodo has had to show his presence in the Natuna Islands.
Why? Once again, a flotilla of Chinese fishing ships, sometimes allowed by the Chinese Coast Guards to arm themselves, are in the North Natuna Sea. Little wonder why all 300 million Indonesians are enraged.
With the exception of Vietnam and perhaps Thai fishing fleets, Malaysia has tried to be very careful not to breach the sovereign waters of Indonesia, which is why the bilateral relationship between the two littoral states of the Straits of Malacca is always strong.
China has to be more cautious with its unregulated fishing fleets, as Foreign Minister Wang Yi has affirmed that he wants the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea to be completed by next year. If Chinese diplomats do not take the maritime territories of other countries seriously, this is akin to allowing the "Wolf Warriors" or the diplomats of China to insist they are always right.
This is the worst way to start 2021, given the fact that the pandemic can become endemic for a while. All sides need to show exemplary behaviour and good will, regardless of the size of their power metrics.
Last but not least, Chinese fishing vessels should not engage in the egregious behaviour of chasing Indonesian, and potentially Malaysian, vessels off their very own waters (www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/world/asia/Indonesia-south-china-sea-fishing....). If this becomes the "new normal" at sea, then China has fallen into the trap of being way more assertive than diplomatic propriety permits.
One solution, as many have suggested, is to understand how Malaysia solved its maritime dispute with Singapore over the ownership of Pulau Batu Putih at the International Court of Justice.
When China puts more attention on the application of proper maritime dispute, even appealing against the verdict, that's when China and all its neighbours can handle bilateral and multilateral relationships more deeply, with sheer respect for all sides and all aspects of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The writer is president and chief executive officer of Emir Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times