ABSTRACT
Maritime security activity in the Asia-Pacific region by forces other than navies continues to grow. The pace of this development increased post9/11 with coastguards playing an important role in countering piracy and maritime terrorism.1 Japan in particular has made considerable use of its coastguard for diplomatic missions abroad, including building the capacity of local countries to deal with piracy and for missions under the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).2 China is following the Japanese example and using its civil maritime security forces to protect its interests in the East and South China Seas. China recognises “the quite sophisticated and encouraging notion that strong coastguards might, by their versatile nature, actually serve as cushions between navies, helping to mitigate the possibility of interstate conflict in East Asia”.3
