In one he flew so close to an American plane that he could hold up a piece of paper with his e-mail address for the pilot to read.One suggestion is that America and China now try to avert future such incidents through an existing, little-known, bilateral agreement, signed in 1998, called the Military Maritime Consultation Agreement.
BRUCE S. LEMKIN Stamford, Conn., Feb. 9, 2000 The writer, a retired Navy captain, was a negotiator for the United States-Chinese military maritime consultation agreement.
The United States had proposed conducting the meeting as part of a regularly scheduled forum in San Francisco under the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement that the two nations signed in 1998, but China balked and insisted in holding the meeting in China.
Cyber-security, the value of the renminbi, maritime disputes in Asia, trade agreements, and where each nation stands in terms of their economic policies - the US Fed tapering and debt ceiling as well as China's progress since the Third Plenum of reforms were announced - are all on the agenda.
A proposed Pacific free-trade agreement could boost maritime trade further; Europe's doldrums have already seen ships redeployed to transpacific routes.The cargoes that fill the ships at America's ports reflect changes in US consumption patterns (eg, fewer oil imports as domestic production increases).
In 2011 it ended one of the Arctic's longest-running disputes, by reaching agreement over its maritime border with Norway.Reassured that they have little to squabble over, Arctic countries are finding that the enormous costs of research, policing and energy exploration are better shared.
The signing of the declaration reinforces the obligations under the MDT and signifies their agreement to broaden maritime cooperation.
"An agreement to produce a structured plan for bilateral talks on maritime delimitation was never part of the agreement to adjourn the matter," she said.
Its actions may have pushed the Philippines and Indonesia to announce an agreement this week on their maritime boundary, after two decades of on-off negotiations.
