China's aggressive claims to parts of the South China Sea contested by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brunei is damaging regional cooperation against piracy, allowing more attacks — 41 so far this year after 30 last year. Naval exercises with the United States this week do include anti-piracy drills but the main aim has become establishing sovereignty.
The lack of hiding and mooring space for large vessels still makes piracy in the region a tough business, but the recent move in Southeast Asia from robbing crews to hijacking vessels is a worrying development.
Although this may simply indicate that pirates have rebuilt their bases after the 2004 tsunami, they are coordinating attacks and moving up from opportunistic robbery.