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South China Sea disputes intensify
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The tension in South China Sea is a fall-out of hunger for energy resources by an increasingly high cost economy which is aspiring for a place at the global high table.
South China Sea is again tense as China, Vietnam and the Philippines confront each other over territorial rights in the disputed waters. The down turn has coincided with the Shangri-La Dialogue, a high-profile Asia defence forum meeting in Singapore.
The summit heard measured speeches by China and the United States. Chinese defence minister, General Liang Guanglie, in fact, rejected the criticism that his country was acting belligerently in the South China Sea. ‘You say our actions do not match our words. I certainly do not agree. China is only pursuing peaceful development’, he told the delegates.
Robert Gates, US defence secretary, voiced American concerns over the situation in South China Sea, but when asked if Beijing was undermining its “peaceful rise” claim, he replied in the negative. “I don’t think it has risen to that level yet,” he said.
China lays claim to mineral rights in the sea bed of the entire South China Sea. Both Vietnam and Philippines are set to start drilling for oil. Gen Liang denied that China was threatening security in the disputed waters, saying ‘freedom of navigation has never been impeded’. He was the first Chinese defence minister to participate in the Shangri-La dialogue, which was attended by other Asian defence ministers. It was Gen Liang’s first big international speech.
On June 9, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, Liu Jianchao, told all rival claimants in the South China Sea to “stop searching for the possibility of exploiting resources in these areas where China has its claims.”
On the same day, a Chinese vessel confronted and allegedly cut survey cables being laid by a Vietnamese oil exploratory ship, Viking 2, which is conducting pre-drilling surveys for the Vietnamese state oil company, PetroVietnam. This was for the second time China obstructed the Vietnamese vessel. The first incident took place on May 26. PetroVietnam is carrying out surveys on behalf of ExxonMobil and the Canadian oil firm, Talisman energy. Both incidents occurred well within the 200 nautical miles guaranteed to Vietnam as an exclusive economic zone by international law. There are also reports that Chinese ships had fired warning shots at Vietnamese fishing boats.
Hundreds of Vietnamese poured into the streets in Hanoi and converged on the Chinese embassy waving banners and maps that proclaimed Vietnamese sovereignty over the contested Spratly and Paracel islands. The demonstrators chanted anti-Chinese slogans. A similar demonstration took place in Ho Chi Minh City amidst a public display of patriotic fervour. The protestors said Chinese actions were acts of aggression.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said his government protect Vietnam’s sovereignty over its islands in the South China Sea. President Nguyen Minh Triet declared: “We are ready to sacrifice everything to protect our homeland, our sea and island sovereignty.”
The Philippine government also has not taken lightly China’s intrusion into Philippine waters. When US Carrier Strike Group 1 visited Manila in May, two Chinese fighters had harassed Philippine jets.
Another area of conflict is China’s reported construction activity in the uninhabited, reef Philippines claims in the disputed Spratlys islands for the first time in nine-years. Local media reports say Chinese ships had taken supplies and were beginning construction. President Benigno Aquino denounced the Chinese move and said the issue would be taken to the UN.
US has dispatched the guided missile destroyer from Pearl Harbour to the Philippine edge of the South China Sea to participate in joint military exercises with the Philippines. While the date for the exercises has not been set, US embassy in Manila said for now, the destroyer would simply patrol the contested waters.
CIA director Leon Panetta told the Senate Armed Services committee during a recent hearing that China was preparing for ‘contingencies’. He said: ‘China appears to be building the capability to fight and win short duration, high-intensity conflicts along its periphery. China appears to be preparing for contingencies like a possible US military intervention’.
The Chinese English-language daily Global Times has rubbished Panetta remarks. On June 9, the daily published an article which accused Panetta of exaggerating the military threat from China in order to ‘exacerbate frictions between China and its neighbours’.
On June 7, China stepped up criticism of the Philippines in a fresh exchange of invective over disputed waters, calling on Manila to stop infringing its sovereignty with irresponsible claims over the South China Sea.
“China demands that the Philippines stop unilateral actions that damage China’s sovereignty and interests at sea and could lead to the expansion and complication of the South China Sea dispute, and stop issuing irresponsible comments that are inconsistent with facts,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. The comments, posted on the ministry’s website were China’s most vitriolic in weeks of tension as the Philippines has denounced what it says is the increasing assertiveness of Chinese ships in the region.
Manila defended its position, insisting that the Philippines has sovereignty over parts of the disputed Spratly islands. “We are very careful in crafting these statements and we see to it that we back up our statements and base it on facts,” Abigail Valte, a spokeswoman for Philippine Aquino, told reporters.
“We stand by what we believe in and what is ours. That is what we are trying to remind them, ” she said. The Philippines viewed the incursions into its territories as a “very sensitive issue.” And the government is preparing reports on the incidents before presenting the documents to an “appropriate body”.
China has since announced plans for naval training drills in the Western Pacific towards end June. “A formation of ships from the navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will hold drills in international waters in the western Pacific in the latter part of June,” the ministry said in a brief statement on its website ( www.mod.gov.cn ). “These are routine drills which are planned every year. They accord with the norms of international law, and are not aimed at any country in particular, nor do they have any special aim,” it added.
The Japanese government immediately expressed its displeasure at this, as getting to the Western Pacific waters would involve the Chinese navy sailing through Japanese waters past Okinawa. Okinawa is home to several large US military bases.
Historically South-east Asian governments are reluctant to strongly criticise China in public. And, on its part, Beijing pledges that it is pursuing a “peaceful rise”. What this actually means is an assurance that China’s increasing economic, political and military clout will not pose a threat to any other country, and that Beijing will not seek a hegemonistic role. The tension in South China Sea, therefore, has to be viewed as a fall-out of hunger for energy resources by an increasingly high cost economy, which is aspiring for a place at the global high table.
The summit heard measured speeches by China and the United States. Chinese defence minister, General Liang Guanglie, in fact, rejected the criticism that his country was acting belligerently in the South China Sea. ‘You say our actions do not match our words. I certainly do not agree. China is only pursuing peaceful development’, he told the delegates.
Robert Gates, US defence secretary, voiced American concerns over the situation in South China Sea, but when asked if Beijing was undermining its “peaceful rise” claim, he replied in the negative. “I don’t think it has risen to that level yet,” he said.
China lays claim to mineral rights in the sea bed of the entire South China Sea. Both Vietnam and Philippines are set to start drilling for oil. Gen Liang denied that China was threatening security in the disputed waters, saying ‘freedom of navigation has never been impeded’. He was the first Chinese defence minister to participate in the Shangri-La dialogue, which was attended by other Asian defence ministers. It was Gen Liang’s first big international speech.
On June 9, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, Liu Jianchao, told all rival claimants in the South China Sea to “stop searching for the possibility of exploiting resources in these areas where China has its claims.”
On the same day, a Chinese vessel confronted and allegedly cut survey cables being laid by a Vietnamese oil exploratory ship, Viking 2, which is conducting pre-drilling surveys for the Vietnamese state oil company, PetroVietnam. This was for the second time China obstructed the Vietnamese vessel. The first incident took place on May 26. PetroVietnam is carrying out surveys on behalf of ExxonMobil and the Canadian oil firm, Talisman energy. Both incidents occurred well within the 200 nautical miles guaranteed to Vietnam as an exclusive economic zone by international law. There are also reports that Chinese ships had fired warning shots at Vietnamese fishing boats.
Hundreds of Vietnamese poured into the streets in Hanoi and converged on the Chinese embassy waving banners and maps that proclaimed Vietnamese sovereignty over the contested Spratly and Paracel islands. The demonstrators chanted anti-Chinese slogans. A similar demonstration took place in Ho Chi Minh City amidst a public display of patriotic fervour. The protestors said Chinese actions were acts of aggression.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said his government protect Vietnam’s sovereignty over its islands in the South China Sea. President Nguyen Minh Triet declared: “We are ready to sacrifice everything to protect our homeland, our sea and island sovereignty.”
The Philippine government also has not taken lightly China’s intrusion into Philippine waters. When US Carrier Strike Group 1 visited Manila in May, two Chinese fighters had harassed Philippine jets.
Another area of conflict is China’s reported construction activity in the uninhabited, reef Philippines claims in the disputed Spratlys islands for the first time in nine-years. Local media reports say Chinese ships had taken supplies and were beginning construction. President Benigno Aquino denounced the Chinese move and said the issue would be taken to the UN.
US has dispatched the guided missile destroyer from Pearl Harbour to the Philippine edge of the South China Sea to participate in joint military exercises with the Philippines. While the date for the exercises has not been set, US embassy in Manila said for now, the destroyer would simply patrol the contested waters.
CIA director Leon Panetta told the Senate Armed Services committee during a recent hearing that China was preparing for ‘contingencies’. He said: ‘China appears to be building the capability to fight and win short duration, high-intensity conflicts along its periphery. China appears to be preparing for contingencies like a possible US military intervention’.
The Chinese English-language daily Global Times has rubbished Panetta remarks. On June 9, the daily published an article which accused Panetta of exaggerating the military threat from China in order to ‘exacerbate frictions between China and its neighbours’.
On June 7, China stepped up criticism of the Philippines in a fresh exchange of invective over disputed waters, calling on Manila to stop infringing its sovereignty with irresponsible claims over the South China Sea.
“China demands that the Philippines stop unilateral actions that damage China’s sovereignty and interests at sea and could lead to the expansion and complication of the South China Sea dispute, and stop issuing irresponsible comments that are inconsistent with facts,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. The comments, posted on the ministry’s website were China’s most vitriolic in weeks of tension as the Philippines has denounced what it says is the increasing assertiveness of Chinese ships in the region.
Manila defended its position, insisting that the Philippines has sovereignty over parts of the disputed Spratly islands. “We are very careful in crafting these statements and we see to it that we back up our statements and base it on facts,” Abigail Valte, a spokeswoman for Philippine Aquino, told reporters.
“We stand by what we believe in and what is ours. That is what we are trying to remind them, ” she said. The Philippines viewed the incursions into its territories as a “very sensitive issue.” And the government is preparing reports on the incidents before presenting the documents to an “appropriate body”.
China has since announced plans for naval training drills in the Western Pacific towards end June. “A formation of ships from the navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will hold drills in international waters in the western Pacific in the latter part of June,” the ministry said in a brief statement on its website ( www.mod.gov.cn ). “These are routine drills which are planned every year. They accord with the norms of international law, and are not aimed at any country in particular, nor do they have any special aim,” it added.
The Japanese government immediately expressed its displeasure at this, as getting to the Western Pacific waters would involve the Chinese navy sailing through Japanese waters past Okinawa. Okinawa is home to several large US military bases.
Historically South-east Asian governments are reluctant to strongly criticise China in public. And, on its part, Beijing pledges that it is pursuing a “peaceful rise”. What this actually means is an assurance that China’s increasing economic, political and military clout will not pose a threat to any other country, and that Beijing will not seek a hegemonistic role. The tension in South China Sea, therefore, has to be viewed as a fall-out of hunger for energy resources by an increasingly high cost economy, which is aspiring for a place at the global high table.
-Malladi Rama Rao
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