China in feud over islands
South China Sea: Neighbours challenge Beijing’s claims to two island groups
Until about a month ago, the perpetual and sometimes dangerous territorial disputes over islands in the South China Sea had been relatively quiet.
But that calm has been interrupted as Beijing and its neighbours to the south, specifically Vietnam and the Philippines, are now feuding openly over two separate groups of islands — known in the West as the Spratly and Paracel Islands.
Most of the recent hubbub centres around China’s land-reclamation efforts in the Spratly Islands and the involvement of the U.S. in the dispute. Beijing began reclamation operations on Fiery Cross Reef sometime during the past year, and reports from Washington suggest the project has created about 2,000 acres of new land for an airstrip and other — potentially military — operations (currently, there are four existing airports in the Spratlys, none of which are controlled by Beijing). China, for its part, said last week that its island-building project will be drawing to a close in the “coming days.”
China’s activities in the region caused the U.S. military to conduct a rare flyover with an embedded CNN camera crew in May. According to the CNN report, the U.S. involvement is part of the Pentagon’s efforts to highlight the need for more awareness. (CNN reported the surveillance flight received eight warnings from Chinese forces as it flew near the island.)
The South China Sea is one of the most crucial maritime trade routes in the world (about $5 trillion worth of goods pass through the area each year). Given the number of islands (750 in the Spratlys alone, controlled by various countries), the number of claimants (which also includes Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei), and the backdrop of Beijing and Washington’s chess game in Asia, and the situation is much bigger than just the creation of a new island roughly the same size as Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver.
Further complicating the issue is the involvement of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes several of the claimants. While Beijing said it prefers to resolve territorial issues bilaterally, ASEAN — despite a growing trade relationship with China — has moved toward dealing with the disputes more uniformly (a statement made by ASEAN at its summit in April said the land-reclamation efforts could undermine regional peace and stability, a claim sharply criticized by Beijing as false and gravely concerning).
At a recent editorial board meeting with The Vancouver Sun, Neil Ferrer, the Philippines’ consul-general in Vancouver, reiterated his country’s stance: “We are advocates for the rule of law, not just in the South China Sea, but in all international relations. In ASEAN, we have already reached a consensus that we would like other countries to respect. We are actively engaging with all other parties (in the dispute), including China.”
Tran Quang Dung, Vietnam’s consul-general in Vancouver, echoed these sentiments:
“On the South China Sea issue, our position is very clear. We want the issue resolved according to the international Law of the Sea (which came into force in 1994). We want every party in the dispute to respect the law, and we also want to help facilitate an agreement on the code of conduct in the region with China. We want to resolve the issue through multilateral negotiations.”
ASEAN has been split on the issue in the past. Cambodia, which hosted the ASEAN summit in 2012, opposed the organization’s involvement in the issue so strongly that the dispute brought an end to the meeting. Meanwhile, Malaysia, which is chairing ASEAN this year, has downplayed confrontation.
The state-controlled People’s Daily newspaper said in an opinion piece on June 6 that China maintains it has undisputed sovereignty over the Spratlys, and other countries should not involve themselves in China’s internal affairs.
“China cares about the navigation/aviation freedoms and security as much as any other country,” the editorial said. “The facilities (on Fiery Cross Reef) increases both the Chinese and international abilities in terms of search-andrescue, weather monitoring, navigation safety and other areas. So not only does (the land reclamation) not limit transportation freedoms, but it actually helps the international community face these challenges together.”
Last Monday, as China and Vietnam held bilateral meetings in Beijing, Vietnamese state-owned newspapers reported encounters — resulting in a local fishing boat being hit with a water cannon — near the Paracel Islands.
The British military publication Jane’s Defence Weekly reported earlier this month that Manila released images of the first major access road being built on the nearby Philippines island of Palawan, leading to a future “major naval anchorage” for the country’s navy, as well as fleets of “visiting allies.”
Broad, wide-ranging peace proposals have been few and far between. Taiwan’s “South China Sea Peace Initiative” was announced at roughly the same time as the ASEAN summit in May. The plan emphasized the sharing of resources through collaborative planning and development, thus sidestepping the sovereignty issue (Taipei administers one island and one reef in the Spratlys). Taiwan has touted the effectiveness of a similar agreement in the East China Sea with Japan, although reaction to the new proposal was muted.