China urged to do more to build trust with neighbours

Beijing could help ease tension in the South China Sea by doing more “for the public good” and improving cooperation with neighbouring countries, said experts who recently attended the Boao Forum for Asia.

They also said it was imperative that China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) built trust as they strove to resolve disputes – that they “will be living with for a long time” – in the busy waterway.

Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations who also attended last week’s forum, said he saw two futures in the disputed waterway: one unstable and dangerous and the other more prosperous.

In the first scenario, countries in the region continued to unilaterally advance their economic and security interests, he said. “In the second future, countries in the region do the hard work of diplomacy to develop mechanisms to peacefully address disagreements, and jointly benefit from the South China Sea,” he said.

“I’m committed to working towards the second future … because it benefits all,” Orlins said.

China and the Philippines have been entangled in disputes in the South China Sea, including repeated run-ins between their maritime law-enforcement units. They have accused each other of being provocative and warned that an accident would fuel tension or trigger military conflict.

The Boao Forum has been billed as China’s equivalent to the World Economic Forum at Davos.

Wu Shicun, founding president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Hainan, said cooperation was the only way out of the dilemma since there was unlikely to be a quick fix to the problem.

“The South China Sea issue involves territorial disputes and jurisdictional disputes that cannot be addressed in a short period of time. The only path is to cooperate, and marine scientific research remains an area that is relatively easy to start the collaboration,” Wu said.

He said China could “offer more for the public good” related to marine environmental protection to “build trust in the South China Sea”, and provide conservation services to neighbouring countries. “[China] could build a ... research lab on one of the islands or reefs, and invite scientists from coastal countries to engage in protecting from the environmental degradation and resource depletion problems that we are all facing together,” he said.

However, Wu warned that multinational joint patrols would further endanger stability in the South China Sea. “More countries are now offering to conduct joint patrols with the Philippines in the South China Sea … their calculations lie in expanding their military presence in the region and reaping geopolitical benefits,” Wu said, adding that Manila had not yet announced if it would accept such offers.

Therefore, in the long run, the risk of accidental incidents or collisions in the air or at sea between China and other nations was likely to surge, he said.

Yang Renhuo, deputy director general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs under the foreign ministry, called for bold thinking to enhance cooperation.

Negotiations involving territory and maritime rights were “time-consuming and require patience”, but it was possible to discuss joint use and development, he said during a separate panel discussion at the forum.

China and Asean countries should discuss more cooperation in the South China Sea, Yang said, with a focus on projects in “less sensitive areas” such as environmental protection, scientific research, maritime search and rescue, combating transnational crimes at sea and the safety of maritime navigation.

“To mitigate contradictions and differences and strive for more tangible benefits, China advocates the adoption of an inclusive and pragmatic approach on the premise of retaining one’s position, or not challenging the position of the other party,” Yang said.

Wang Sheng, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, echoed Yang’s remarks and said fishing and disaster mitigation and prevention were also potential arenas for cooperation. He also suggested establishing multinational joint scientific exploration in the strategic waters and joint law enforcement around less sensitive issues.

“This functional cooperation could help alleviate the tense atmosphere caused by sovereignty disputes, and create better conditions for promoting the integrated development of the South China Sea,” Wang said.

Meanwhile, Jane Chan, maritime security issues expert with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), said regional leaders had not paid enough attention to the safety and security of critical infrastructure in the South China Sea.

“While most of the incidences of damages are accidents, recent development further away from the region suggests that these infrastructures are vulnerable to deliberate and malicious targeting and sabotage,” she said.