Piracy in Southeast Asia during the COVID-19: Exploring Regional Anti-Piracy Strategies and China’s Involvement

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a pessimistic maritime security environment and an increasing emergence of nontraditional security threats in the Southeast Asian Waters. In early 2020, although the covid-19 outbreak and quickly spread to the world, piracy was still rampant in the Southeast Asian waters. Thus, the fight against piracy became a major challenge for maritime governance. The covid-19 pandemic was a global trigger for weak economic growth and social conflicts. This paper collects the piracy information reported by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and other institutions. After that, it sorts these reports from different perspectives. Then, it demonstrates the change trend of piracy such as behavior patterns, criminal areas and criminal characteristics. In addition, the paper also suggests that China should actively participate in international anti-piracy cooperation in this region and joins hands with other states in this region and international organizations. In this way, they can prevent and combat crimes, for instance, piracy and armed robbery against ships, and maintain peace and stability in Southeast Asia.