Journal UNISCI/Revista UNISCI nº 59 (May/Mayo 2022) INDO-PACIFIC, HONG KONG, SOUTHEAST ASIA, MIGRATION CRISIS & HYBRID WARFARE

Antonio Marquina: Editor´s Note/Nota Editorial
Selected Bibliography/Bibliografía Seleccionada

INDO-PACIFIC, HONG KONG, SOUTHEAST ASIA, MIGRATION CRISIS & HYBRID WARFARE

The Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asia: The impact of external strategies on Southeast Asia and...

Gracia Abad
Abstract: The Indo-Pacific concept is imprecise and designates more a geopolitical reality than a geographical space, but it is not, as is often suggested, a recent creation of the US, nor of the Trump administration. On the contrary, several actors have used it before the United States itself. And the US will not be the last actor to adopt it, either. On the contrary, it has gradually been adopted by other actors, including ASEAN, which tries to turn the concept in its favor in a way that reaffirms the importance of the group in the region as a whole and does not put in question neither “its centrality or its unity”, something that is far from being achieved.
Key words: Indo-Pacific, ASEAN, China, United States, Asia

Hong Kong’s football rivalry with the People’s Republic of China as a reflection of...

Łukasz Zamęcki, Mieszko Rajkiewicz
Abstract: In the 20th century and in contemporary Hong Kong, different identities of inhabitants of the region overlap. In that article, through the prism of the attitudes manifested by Hong Kongers during football matches between HK and the PRC teams, two local identities and their evolution are distinguished. The matches until the 1980s aroused tensions on slightly different grounds when compared to the conflicts in the 21st century, which also correlates with the differently built local identity in the 1970s and 1980s and the present one. The article argues that the football rivalry between HK and mainland China reflects the evolution of HK’s local identity based on proud of local achievements toward more nativist form of identity mixed with evident hostility toward mainland China. This article can make a contribution to the studies on sociology of football and shows how identity can be studied through sport events.
Key words: PRC vs HK, football, identity, Hong Kong.

ASEAN’s Response to the Myanmar Military Coup: From Non-Intervention to Responsibility to Protect

Ali Muhammad, Ahmad Sahide
Abstract: This article examines how ASEAN has reacted to the military coup in Myanmar. The February 1, 2021 coup was appalling because Myanmar was progressing toward democracy especially since Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election. This article shows that although ASEAN tries to adopt ‘constructive engagement’ towards Myanmar, its approaches remain ineffective because it basically still maintains the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of its member states. ASEAN must recognize that regional stability depends on respect for democracy, human rights, and rule of law within each member states. This article argues that ASEAN needs to transform its ineffective approaches toward more active response by gradually internalizing the new concept of ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) and actively put pressures on the military to restore democracy in the country.
Key words: ASEAN, Myanmar, military coup, non-intervention, Responsibility to Protect (R2P).

Dispute Resolution between the Philippines and China: Fishing Activities in the South China Sea

Yordan Gunawan, Dwilani Irrynta, Caterina García Segura, Pablo Pareja Alcaraz
Abstract: Chinese fishing vessels and maritime militias were found in Philippine waters on April 12, 2021. Diplomatic protests raised by the Philippines have been ignored by China, which still claims most of the South China Sea, although in 2016 The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague under Annex VII of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ruled that such a claim is inconsistent with international law. In the article, the authors use a normative research method and a comprehensive literature review in which sources are obtained from secondary data. The results show that China violates the tribunal ruling by infringing the sovereign rights of the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). For the avoidance and prevention of further issues between the two states, the establishment of a Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) may be used as a settlement.
Key words: Fisheries, Philippines, China, South China Sea.

Talking with Terrorists: Hostage Release Negotiation with the Abu Sayyaf Group in Southern Philippines

Putu Agung Nara Indra Prima Satya
Abstract: A hostage crisis is one of the hardest and most dangerous situations in the field of negotiation. For example, it happened in the Mindanao hostage crisis on May 2016 when 10 Indonesian sailors were captured by the Abu Sayyaf militia. The crisis was solved successfully because of a small team of non-government personnel from the Sukma Bangsa Foundation. One of the main factors behind their success was the trust-building process in which the negotiators symbolically showed that they have commonalities instead of differences with the perpetrators especially the religion (Islam), cultural background (Malay) and so forth. This article explains the trust-building process in the first phase of the hostage negotiations between the Sukma Bangsa Foundation and the Abu Sayyaf militia. The article takes a qualitative approach using primary data from an interview with one of the negotiators. Furthermore, this article uses the concept of "relatedness" in the trust-building process to analyze the effect of cultural and religious background in bridging the dialogue.
Key words: Hostage crisis, trust-building, Abu Sayyaf Militia, negotiation.

State Identity, Perception to Diaspora, and Diaspora Policies in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia

Tonny Dian Effendi
Abstract: Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have many diasporas, but they implement different diaspora policies. The Philippines and Vietnam implemented dual nationality and established specific institutions for the diaspora. Meanwhile, Indonesia implements a single citizenship policy, and the MOFA established only a particular unit for the diaspora. This study explains those countries’ diaspora policies by analyzing their interpretation of diaspora and the influence of the state identity. By adopting the constructivism theory of International Relations, this study shows that the Philippines includes its diaspora as part of its global nation identity, and Vietnam includes its diaspora as a broader pan-Vietnamese family member. At the same time, Indonesia perceives its diaspora as a partner for development. The home countries’ perception and identity concerning the diaspora affect their interest and diaspora policy. Besides, the institutionalization of diaspora plays a critical role in the diaspora policy process.
Key words: Diaspora, policy, identity, perception, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia.

The Indonesian Government’s Intervention in the Management of Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Remittances: Natural, Technical...

Annisa Ayuningtyas, Mailinda Eka Yuniza
Abstract:The constitutionally groundless intervention of Indonesian government towards remittances-the financial outputs categorized as private transaction generated from Indonesian Migrant Workers (IMWs) abroad-has occurred since 1983 until the enactment of Law No. 18 Year 2017 on the protection of IMWs. This Law imposes obligations for local and central governments to conduct financial protection through remittance management by involving domestic and IMW`s placement state`s banks or non-bank financial institution. Given to the limited constitutional basis, private nature of remittances and conditional impact of IWM`s state of origin, this article discusses the limits of Indonesian government intervention in the management of migrants' remittances. This doctrinal legal research found that due to natural and technical restrictions, the government intervention is extremely limited
Key words: Government intervention, remittance management, Indonesian migrant worker.

Transformation challenges for the international humanitarian law system: Migration crisis as the latest tool...

Vitaliy Kovalchuk, Iryna Zharovska, Mykhailo Mykievych, Malvina Hrushko, Mykhailo I. Hrabynskyi
Abstract:The article tries to present a theoretical-legal and international-practical analysis of the migration crisis as a tool for hybrid warfare, analysing the features of such a war and the peculiarities of using the flow of migrants and refugees as "living" weapons in a military conflict. The authors try to prove that a migration crisis can be provoked by an aggressor country using the hybrid warfare methodology attempting to destabilize the political situation, avoiding the resistance of the civil society of the target country without engaging in open hostilities. The authors stress the uncertainty surrounding the term "hybrid warfare" and propose their own classification of the modern hybrid warfare´ features. Based on the analysis of the use of migration crisis in Syria, Venezuela and Belarus, the article singles out the stages of employment of such a tool for warfare.
Key words: Hybrid war, migration crisis, hostilities, international humanitarian law, refugees