US schedules another South China Sea exercise

CHINESE Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua expressed China’s concern over a naval exercise that the United States will be conducting in the South China Sea next month. The ambassador called on President Duterte in Malacanang last Monday.

The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet reportedly plans a series of operations in the area as well as in the Taiwan Strait further north one week in November. The naval exercise may coincide with China President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Philippines after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Papua New Guinea.

Even as he expressed concern, the Chinese ambassador reiterated that China has no desire to engage any claimant state in a military confrontation in the South China Sea.

The US is not a claimant state in the South China Sea but it has repeatedly declared that its ships and planes will continue to travel in and over the sea under the principle of freedom of navigation in the world’s international waters.

This position clashes directly with China’s claim that nearly 80 percent of the South China Sea, delineated by a nine-dash line in its maps, is Chinese sovereign territory. China has developed some of the islets and shoals in the sea and constructed runways and missile defenses on them. And every time an American ship or plane nears any of these installations, Chinese ships warn them off.

Several other nations, among them the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, as well as Taiwan, have rival claims to some of the islands in the South China Sea. Japan has similar claims in the East China Sea, which are also disputed by China.

The members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) have generally agreed that they will not take any aggressive move to assert or defend their claims. China has proposed that they all instead abide by a Code of Conduct in the sea, to avoid military confrontation, pending permanent settlement of the disputes.

The Philippines, in particular, has followed President Dutere’s policy of cooperating with China in a host of economic and cultural programs. It continues to stand by its claims to certain islands in the South China Sea, upheld by the Arbitral Court in The Hague in 2016, but it will not pursue its claims anytime soon – maybe later – in favor of maintaining close diplomatic relations with considerable economic aid.

The US insistence on freedom of navigation is another matter. Its ships and planes move around the world today, especially in areas where it has great economic and political interest. In the South China Sea, this traditional dominance is now being challenged by China with its claim of sovereignty.

In the recent visit to Malacanang by Ambassador Zhao, he reiterated China’s absence of any desire to face the US or any of the claimant states in the area in a military confrontation. But the danger will continue to exist until an agreement by all concerned is reached.

It will take some give and take, for that is the nature of all negotiations. We just hope it will be soon before some hothead local commander or pilot acts in violation of all the assurances of ambassadors and other officials.