From the Crow's Nest

THE RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD OF MARITIME TRADE - DEVELOPMENTS IN EAST ASIA Recent articles and comments, including those by Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Alexander Downer, have focused on the brittle relationship between China and Taiwan. The possibility of conflict between these two protagonists, which could involve the United States, always hovers in the background. The extent to which Australia could become involved remains an ambivalent factor and one which Mr Downer has commented on, specifically as it relates to our association with the US through the ANZUS Treaty.
However, the stabilising factor in the politics of East Asia (North Korea excluded) is the huge growth in maritime trade and the dependence of the world economy on shipping. This growth in trade in the past decade has been quite extraordinary, fuelled in part by China's insatiable demand for energy and raw materials as it strives towards becoming the manufacturing centre of the world.
In addition to the growth in bulk cargoes has been the huge expansion in container traffic. The six biggest container ports in the world are to be found in East Asia - Hong Kong, Singapore, Pusan, Shanghai, Kaoahiang and Shenzhen.
Hong Kong, which is the world's biggest hubbing port*, handled 18.5 million containers in 2003. By comparison 2.5 million containers are handled over Australian wharves, the four principal container operations being Melbourne, Botany (Sydney), Fremantle and Brisbane.
The massive growth in container traffic experienced in the past decade is expected to continue. Already 10.1m containers are handled through the Californian ports of San Diego and Long Beach. Against this background it is easy to understand why much of America's manufacturing base is eroding. For example, six textile factories have closed down in the last 12 months.
To meet this expansion in trade and shipping China is planning a new container terminal offshore from Shanghai which is designed to handle 40 million containers annually and has on order ships capable of carrying 10,000 containers.
This tectonic shift in trading patterns is creating national economies that transcend concepts of national security which hitherto have been the driving force behind national defence policies. As explained by Phillip Bobbit in his acclaimed study of war and peace, nation states are transforming into market states. The complexity of this new paradigm introduces new dimensions to the national security debate which has yet to be addressed in Australia. Such a review is urgent. The cataclysmic outcome of an interruption to world trade either by an act of terrorism or by political miscalculation would have dire economic consequences for all countries with developed economies.
How to prevent such a catastrophe is now the challenge for all nations. Australia could develop the intellectual and political influence to take the lead in this area by moving now to put greater focus on its maritime affairs - which, after all, are its trade and defence lifebloods.
In order to bring these issues into proper focus there is an urgent need for a Parliamentary Inquiry to be established along the lines of the Maritime Policy Inquiry carried out by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade in 2003.
The inquiry, while reviewing progress at the national and international level on all aspects of shipping and port security as well as port infrastructure and seafarer training, should specifically address the need to revitalise Australian coastal shipping and the need for Australian shipping to compete on the international scene. The whole subject should also come under study by both the ANZUS and ASEAN forums.
These important issues, which impact on the prosperity of the Australian nation and its security, must be addressed in a holistic way and, it is suggested, as a matter of urgency. It is to be hoped the Howard Government shares this vision.

By Themistocles

*Ports set up to receive goods in containers from smaller ports and then distribute them to distant ports in USA, Europe, etc.