China should heed The Hague
While most of the world continues to obsess over every twist and turn in the Brexit saga and its
on global markets, a major development omorrow could have implications that hit closer to home. The UN Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague is preparing to rule tomorrow on a petition by the Philippines against China’s claims to nearly the entire South China Sea. Beijing bases its claims on nearly 2,000 years of historic use in areas that extend well beyond the 200-mile offshore exclusive economic zone that is the internationally accepted right. The entire area of South China Sea is around 3.7 million square kilometres.
The Chinese claims have long been at odds with those of Taiwan as well as four Asean members: the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. As a result, tensions have been rising in the area, a key trade route through which trillions of dollars worth of shipments travel. The potential of undersea resources is also thought to be vast but barely explored yet.
The international community has been calling on China to accept the UN arbitration body’s ruling but Beijing has insisted repeatedly that it will ignore the outcome. The new superpower of the East says the tribunal in The Hague lacks jurisdiction because China did not give consent to the ongoing arbitration.
China has also sounded repeated warnings to the United States that it has no business in the region as the dispute does not involve Washington. But the United States counters that it has a stake in ensuring freedom of navigation in the seas that reportedly carry more than half of the world’s merchant fleet tonnage.
Apart from this, the United States has a treaty with the Philippines which could be activated in case there is any need for use of force to defend the Asean nation.
China has been acting like the neighbourhood bully for years as it continues to build artificial islands that could be used as military bases, complete with airstrips for military aircraft. Civilian flights to promote tourism from the mainland are also being mooted to further buttress the country’s claims.
And while the world awaits the decision in The Hague, China has stepped up its intimidation by embarking last week on 10 days of military exercises around the disputed Paracel Islands.
With this kind of action, all that China is doing is isolating itself in the eyes of the world. The building of airstrips and military exercises has prompted many to fear that China is essentially militarising the area. The increasing risk of conflict is what prompted the Philippines to seek The Hague’s help in resolving in 2013.
Any military clash would be catastrophic not just for China and the United States but also the region and the world. Under its treaty with the Philippines, the US could be called in to help in the event of an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, aircraft or island territories under Manila’s jurisdiction.
We all hope that China will understand the situation and not push the limits any further, even though domestic politicians may cheer such moves. In the current environment where stability is of paramount importance, any act seen as instigating instability would send the world into a tailspin both politically and economically.
Besides, China should learn that being a superpower does not mean bullying its weaker neighbours to get its way, but instead it means helping them to grow.
China could take its cue from other superpowers of bygone eras that helped their colonies to prosper and move forward — and still became rich and powerful in the process. After all, power can be seized and enforced but respect and admiration only come when power is used in the right manner.
China, with all its power and money, could help smaller countries develop the vast South China Sea to become a hub for its energy needs. It could provide all the resources needed to create exploration infrastructure and work out agreements to share the proceeds with the neighbours who also stake claims to these pockets of resources.
By doing so, China would also succeed in limiting the United States’ influence in the region, a development that presumably would please Beijing. But if China takes the path of antagonising the region’s smaller nations, it will have the opposite effect of pushing these countries closer to China’s now arch-rival.