US flexes muscles over sea dispute
Carter vows to remain guarantor of Asian security, warns China against provocative behaviour in South China Sea
SINGAPORE: The United States stepped up pressure on China yesterday to rein in its actions in the South China Sea, with top defence officials underlining Washington’s military superiority and vowing to remain the main guarantor of Asian security for decades to come.
Defence Secretary Ash Carter said the US approach to the Asia-Pacific remained ‘one of commitment, strength and inclusion,’ but he also warned China against provocative behaviour in the South China Sea. Any action by China to reclaim land in the Scarborough Shoal, an outcrop in the disputed sea, would have consequences, Carter said.
“I hope that this development doesn’t occur, because it will result in actions being taken by the both United States and ... by others in the region which would have the effect of not only increasing tensions but isolating China,” Carter told the ShangriLa Dialogue, a regional security forum in Singapore.
“The United States will remain the most powerful military and main underwriter of security in the region for decades to come – and there should be no doubt about that.” The top US military commander in the region, Admiral Harry Harris, told reporters at the forum that Washington needed to operate from a position of strength against ‘all outcomes.’
“The bottom line is this: we want to co-operate where we can, but we just have to be ready as a military to confront them if we must,” he said.
The South China Sea has become a flashpoint between the United States, which increased its focus on the Asia-Pacific
I hope that this development doesn’t occur, because it will result in actions being taken by the both United States and ... by others in the region which would have the effect of not only increasing tensions but isolating China. — Ash Carter, US Defence Secretary
under President Barack Obama’s ‘pivot,’ and China, which is projecting ever greater economic, political and military power in the region. Carter however said he would welcome China’s participation in a ‘principled security network’ for Asia.
“Forward thinking statesmen and leaders must ... come together to ensure a positive principled future,” he said, adding that the network he envisaged could also help protect against ‘Russia’s worrying actions’ and the growing strategic impact of climate change.
The deputy head of China’s delegation to the forum said any attempts by the United States to isolate China would fail.
“This is a time of cooperation and common security. The US action to take sides is not agreed by many countries. We hope the US will also listen to the other countries,” Rear Admiral Guan Youfei told reporters. Other Asian leaders said the situation in the South China Sea was viewed with concern across the region.
“All countries in the region need to recognise that our shared prosperities and the enviable rate of growth that this region enjoys over past decades will be put at risk by aggressive behaviour or actions by any one of us,” Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told the forum.
Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said his country would help Southeast Asian nations build their security capabilities to deal with what he called unilateral, dangerous and coercive actions in the South China Sea.
“In the South China Sea, we have been witnessing large-scale and rapid land reclamation, building of outposts and utilisation of them for military purposes. No countries can be an outsider of this issue.”
Trillions of dollars of trade a year passes through the South China Sea, which is home to rich oil, gas and fishing resources.
Besides China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have claims in the area, and rising tensions have been fuelling increasing security spending in the region.
“The uncertainty of China’s future trajectory is arguably the main driving concern about possible military competition now and in the future,” Malaysian Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said. — Reuters