Abstract:

The fluidity of the ocean makes maritime governance both a local and global issue. Effective maritime governance in the South China Sea needs to be guided by the principles of new international relations and the maritime community of a shared future, take a different path from traditional Western geopolitical ideas, and fully integrate the wisdom of Chinese philosophy. Based on the perspective of the integration of Chinese philosophy and geopolitics, we deconstructed the issue of maritime governance in the South China Sea from the perspective of geopolitics, elaborated and extracted the key points of Mohist philosophy for maritime governance in the South China Sea, and built a geopolitical strategic system of maritime governance in the South China Sea based on Mohist philosophy embedded in new international relations. The main conclusions were as follows: (1) the unclear governance objectives within the region, the failure of governance guarantees, the intervention of foreign powers, and the limited role of international organizations has resulted in a dilemma regarding maritime governance in the South China Sea. (2) The South China Sea Ocean Governance takes the unity of the natural ocean and the human ocean as the governance objects and sovereign states as the main actors. (3) One core point, three guiding principles, and four key elements were extracted from Mohist philosophy and applied to the maritime governance of the South China Sea. On the basis of this concept, we should consider "love non-aggression" and "integration of justice and benefit" as the value orientations, and "utilitarianism" and "unity of ambition and work" as the standards of behavior. From a practical standpoint, we should embed the "law" elements of Mohist philosophy; take law as the traction; and embed the "seeking", "saving", and "skillful" elements of Mohist philosophy, driven by scientific and technological innovation.

Key words: South China Sea, ocean governance, geopolitics, Mohist philosophy, new international relations, human community with a shared future