In 1979, Dr Han Lih-wu of the Republic of China proposed the idea of an international private study of the security of sea lanes of communication (SLOC) by the US, Japan, the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC) and the Republic of Korea (ROK). Since then, there have been six of these international conferences held in San Francisco, Tokyo, Singapore, Taipei, Seoul and Melbourne. This book offers a selection of papers from these six conferences by experts and scholars alike. Included is a discussion on the capabilities of nations in the Pacific Rim for maintaining and defending the essential sea lanes of communications under conditions of both peace and war.