Peer reviewed analysis from world leading experts

Understanding the claims and claimants in the South China Sea

Reading Time: 4 mins

In Brief

How do we resolve the territorial disputes in the South China Sea (SCS)? There is no clear answer, but the first step to settling any argument is to examine all sides of the story.

Media outlets tend to depict China as the aggressor infringing on the sovereign rights of other nations.

Share

  • A
  • A
  • A

Share

  • A
  • A
  • A

Philippine president Benigno Aquino III agrees: he sent the country’s biggest warship to conduct patrols in the Sea after claiming he would no longer be ‘bullied’ by China. The three hundred Vietnamese marching down the streets of Hanoi also agree. They recently launched a third week of ‘Down with China!’ protests at the Chinese embassy. But what about the Chinese?

On 29 May, Chinese vessels cut an exploration cable on a Vietnamese oil survey ship within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. Two weeks later, on 12 June, Vietnam called the United States and other nations to help resolve the territorial disputes. Soon after, on 14 June, China sent one of its largest patrol ships, Haixun-31, into the SCS to ‘protect maritime security’. To anyone, this sequence of events easily amounts to increasing Chinese ‘aggressiveness’, but the Chinese believe that a critical piece of information is missing from this timeline. According to columnist Li Hong-Mei from People’s Daily Online, the cause behind Beijing’s decision to intensify its maritime forces in the SCS occurred on 13 June, after Vietnam held live-fire naval drills and issued a decree specifying who would be exempt from military call-up in a time of war. To the Chinese, they were not the aggressors but reacting to aggression.

What is even worse for the Chinese is that after Vietnam asserted that bilateral negotiations were preferable to multilateral engagement, Vietnam decided to call for US interference. Not only did that increase China’s fear of deepening US–Vietnam defence relations, but also framed the SCS dispute into a potential US–China competition for maritime might. China emphasised that following Vietnam’s provocation, it has only responded with promises of peace. Chinese defence minister, General Liang Guanglie, stated that China will ‘not threaten any country with the modernisation of [China’s] military force’.

This is not to say that Vietnam’s and the Philippines’ apprehensions are unfounded. Vietnam and the Philippines have ample right and reason to seek US assistance, as China has not abided by international maritime law. China’s military has grown bolder over time, and its claims in the SCS are by far the largest, covering a huge U-shaped area over the entire region, making both these Southeast Asian countries wary of Chinese naval power and in want of a security guarantee. Compared to China, Vietnam and the Philippines are ‘tiny states’, and would most certainly feel they are being ‘pushed around’, as claimed by President Aquino.

This is to say, however, that by continuing to depict China as the aggressor will not help resolve the dispute. By examining the story from both ends, China and the ASEAN claimants are eying the same goal — regional stability — but continue to take the wrong steps to achieve it. All parties assume a display of naval power in the SCS will garner media attention, scaring away other claimants. But sending more warships into the SCS, as Indonesian Ambassador Dino Djalal noted, will only provoke ‘skirmishes of greater intensity’. Claimants hurling accusations at each other, and backing those threats with announcements of military drills in disputed waters, will not bring them closer to what they all want — a negotiation table.

The claimants hope to exert sovereign rights and establish a demonstrated presence in the SCS and, at the same time, resolve their disputes in a negotiable manner. To do that, they must learn to look at the issue from each other’s perspective. To help the parties sit at the discussion table, China must elucidate and clarify its maritime claims. Vague assertions, such as ‘indisputable jurisdiction’ and ‘indisputable sovereignty’, should be avoided by all parties until an agreement is struck.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN claimants need to restrain themselves from bringing the US back to the negotiation table, angering China. Although Washington claimed neutrality on the issue it may use the outbreak of conflict as a reason to intervene; and China is well aware of — and resents — internationalisation of the issue. Despite Vietnamese and Filipino desires to use Washington as a buffer against Beijing, the US should not directly involve itself in the negotiations, and should only exercise cautious involvement. Respecting each other’s needs and priorities is crucial: only when the willingness to cooperate slowly exudes from all parties can regional stability look promising again.

Jennifer Chen is a recent graduate of School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.

2 responses to “Understanding the claims and claimants in the South China Sea”

  1. The article, unfortunately, does not acknowledge that China’s claim to almost all of the SCS and its occupation of some of the Spratley Islands are acts of aggression.

    • Mick Shadwick’s observation is correct. Not only does China occupy an area several thousand miles away from its coast, it also bullies the people in the region. The Philippines and Vietnam’s actions, like the naval drills held by Vietnam, are mere responses to China’s increasing aggression – it should never be the other way around considering the strength and size of the Chinese armed forces.

      Just to give a concrete example, China’s occupation of Mischief Reef, which is well within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines, provoked that country to strengthen its military alliance with the US.

Support Quality Analysis

Donate
The East Asia Forum office is based in Australia and EAF acknowledges the First Peoples of this land — in Canberra the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people — and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country.

Article printed from East Asia Forum (https://www.eastasiaforum.org)

Copyright ©2024 East Asia Forum. All rights reserved.