strategic importance of south china sea

In a first, a Modi-Obamajoint statementlast year explicitly raised concerns over the South China Sea and called on all parties to avoid the threat or use of force and pursue resolution of territorial and maritime disputes through all peaceful means.. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. That included nearly 40 percent of Chinas total trade and 90 percent of petroleum imports by China, Japan, and South Korea and nearly 6 percent of total U.S. trade. The strategic landscape of the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia in the early 1990s was remarkably benign with optimism in full flower. Navy P-8s are now regularly deploying to Singapore and, although without regular access, they have conducted patrols from Malaysia as well. In particular, shifting explanations for how the United States will manage Chinas rising power and influencealong with the military-heavy implementation of the rebalancehave exacerbated suspicions that Washington seeks to contain Beijings rise. If China succeeds, in displacing U.S. power in the Western Pacific and Chinese territorial expansion into the South China Sea becomes permanent and codified, global geopolitics will have entered a new and very different era. Over the longer term, American defense contractors may have their sights set on sales of fighter aircraft and attack helicopters. These straws-in-the-wind gained strategic context because the PRC had long published official maps showing a boundary encompassing almost the entire South China Sea the nine-dash line.. The area includes several hundred small islands, rocks, and reefs, with the majority located in the Paracel and Spratly Island chains. In practice, Thailand may be neutral in the regions great power fissures into the next decade. U.S. policy in the South China Sea has been overly reliant on military options, which may not always be the most effective response. U.S. interests in the South China Sea fall into three broad categories including: (1) Economic interests tied to the sea-lanes; (2) Defense ties with allies and other security partners; and (3) Implications for the global balance of power and influence. Nevertheless, Beijing had taken its first overt step to control the South China Sea. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. South China Sea is also strategically important due to the rising competition between China, Vietnam, Philippine and the US for military supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region. U.S. allies and partners in the region are drawing lessons from Chinese coercive behavior and the limited U.S. response to it, and some are beginning to doubt U.S. resolve and adjust their foreign policies in response. During the George W. Bush administration, U.S. forces in the Philippines were focused primarily on aiding the Philippine military in its counterterror fight. The SCS is passage of half of the world trade. That should, of course, remain the goal, but Washington must recognize that Thailand is in the midst of a decade-long political crisis, which is unlikely to be resolved until after King Bhumibols passing and the royal succession is completed. Instead, perceptions of weakness may encourage leaders in Beijing to embrace more assertive behavior. China has shown the most considerable increase in projection of power from all the states surrounding the SCS. Less sexy but no less important is a forthcoming arrangement by which Vietnam will allow the United States military to preposition supplies and equipment in Da Nang on the central coast. 2016 The Arbitration Tribunal rules in favor of the Philippines. The end of the Cold War found East Asia and the Western Pacific strategically quiescent. It is one in which China dominates the South China Sea from the north; the United States and its partners dominate the eastern and western edges of the sea; and the bulk of continental Southeast Asian states (Thailand, Cambodia and Laos) are either neutral or aligned more closely with China. The United States has leverage over China in areas not directly related to South China Sea and may have to consider using or threatening to use these tools to stabilize the regional order. Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Thursday, Bonji Ohara, a senior fellow at the Tokyo-based Sasakawa Peace Foundation, said the marginal sea is key to China's security. Miguel . According to the U.S. State Department, it has been estimated that China is effectively blocking the development of $2.5 trillion worth of oil and gas resources in the South China Sea. Chinese missiles on the mainland already hold all U.S. Asian bases at risk. It is little surprise, then, that Southeast Asian states are drawing closer to the United Statesboth seeking aid in developing their own defense capabilities and hoping that stronger ties act as a deterrent to Chinese assertiveness. The U.S. militarys enhanced ability to loiter in and over the South China Sea, moreover, will facilitate more effective efforts to track Chinese submarines sailing from the PLANs underground naval base on Hainan island. These actions suggest that China might undermine freedom of navigation and overflight, principles of fundamental importance to the United States. Report More than half of the worlds fishing vessels are in the South China Sea, and millions of people depend on these waters for their food and livelihoods. multifaceted fiscal and strategic benefits, acting as a magnet for the regional as well as . This new strategic map of Southeast Asia actually began to take shape during the Bush administration, whichinitially launchedthe effort to move beyond Americas traditional hub-and-spokes alliance model in the Asia-Pacific. - Interview with Mei Gechlik, Pelosi's visit to Taiwan Spiking Tensions Between the U.S. and China: an interview with Andrew K.P. 2014 The United States and the Philippines sign an enhanced defense pact, strengthening the U.S.-Filipino relationship. South China Sea and possible options. the South China Sea that would be " - S " ["permitting a leaf to obscure one's view of the mountain"]. Narendra Modis Act East policy has resulted in an acceleration of burgeoning India-ASEAN ties and Indias position on the South China Sea territorial disputes essentially mirrors that of the United States. The United States and its Pacific allies should consider whether it is feasible and sensible to coordinate the activities of USAID, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. By the end of the 1970s, communist insurgencies outside Indochina had been effectively suppressed. The USA have a direct connection to the area through various allies, connections and trade, and this will naturally continue. What evidence is there of increased projection of Maritime Power? The United States has an interest in seeing that these partners maintain their strategic autonomy, but capacity building efforts to help them resist coercion are not keeping pace with Chinas growing capabilities. A South China Sea Strategy By Dan Blumenthal, Michael Auslin, and Michael Mazza I. Beware China: America Fights Back In recent years, China's inventive engineering feats have allowed it to. Hanoi will move cautiously and such access may be limited to the purposes of logistical support for the time being. China, Russia and the Munich Security Conference. In 2010, the US declared its freedom of navigation in the SCS to be a national interest in response to Chinas increasingly assertive posture. Chinas rising military power and political influence is generating anxiety and suspicion among some of its neighbours and western powers. A critical and early Chinese test of U.S. resolve is likely to come in the South China Sea, where Washington has struggled to respond effectively to assertive Chinese behavior. Southeast Asia will inevitably be rendered subordinate and compliant to Chinas will. Should they be neutral, China may lord over the southern reaches of the South China Sea from military bases on its newly created and expanded islands in the Spratlys. The strategically important South China Sea is an increasingly prominent stage for the spiraling tensions . But in order to achieve renewed stability in the regionto ensure that Southeast Asians are not susceptible to non-military Chinese coercionthe United States must strive to become more than just the security partner of choice. The United States calls this treaty the Law of the Sea Convention.. Accordingly, Malaysia's note verbale serves as the strongest stance of Malaysia on the SCS in recent times and aligns itself with the top priority of its DWP. Learn more in our Cookie Policy. To this end, the new administration should perform an early, top-down, and thorough strategic review to enable greater consistency and effectiveness in U.S. South China Sea policy. The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. All Rights Reserved. More importantly, it also covers the most crucial energy routes for East Asian countries to transport oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf. But the new maps contours truly began to crystallize earlier this year, when the Philippines Supreme Court ruled as constitutional a new defense agreement with the United States. This has continued in to the present day. economic importance associated with the ocean is tremendous and manifold. You are approaching Chinese airspace. Generally, oil and minerals move north, and food and manufactured goods move south. The annual Cobra Gold exercise is Asias largest multilateral military exercise. The growing size and capability of the Chinese air force, navy, and coast guard allow Beijing to consistently monitor and exercise de facto control over most of the South China Sea. Beijing may not find it quite as easy to run roughshod over Hanoi in the coming years. Other claimant states welcome U.S. involvement precisely because Washington does not favor one claimants territorial ambitions over those of the others. The third will assess the policies/strategies currently employed by the United States in this arena as well as other plausible options. It is the geostrategic importance that is usually the main reason for the parties to strengthen their claim over the Spratlys and the Paracels. Enduring U.S. interestsfreedom of navigation and overflight, support for the rules-based international order, and the peaceful resolution of disputesare at risk in the region. In December, another joint China-Russia naval exercise was held in the East China Sea (China Military Online, December 21, 2022). It threatens the sovereignty of many nations and endangers the prosperity of the world. China tries to control the waters by using fishing vessels that are part of the Chinese maritime militia, coast guard ships, and naval vessels to harass other countries boats and deny access to this key area. The conflict and tension over competing sovereignty claims in the South China Sea has grown considerably in the past 5-10 years. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. Those bases may be vulnerable, but before and at the outbreak of hostilities, they will allow China to project power deep into maritime Southeast Asia, to threaten commercial and military passage through the sea, and to impose and enforce an air defense identification zone. The area is globally important for a few reasons. Allied efforts to support U.S. force posture in the region will remain vital, but the United States should also expect allies to make greater contributions in responding to Chinese coercion. This order embodies certain foundational political principles respect for international law, preservation of the real sovereign independence of regional states, a refusal to legitimate unilateral territorial expansion, and the unconditional acceptance of the sea-lanes as a global commons. Giving ground on vital interests in Asia will not encourage greater cooperation on global issues. In the near term, this could lead to sales of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment as well as patrol boats to allow Hanoi to better keep an eye on goings-on in the western South China Sea. China has become increasingly assertive in the region, and regional powers from Japan to Singapore have become alarmed at China's behavior. When China moved a massive oilrig, theHaiyang Shiyou 981, into Vietnams exclusive economic zone in 2014, Vietnam had limited options to respond, at either the low end or the high. In sum, the South China Sea is the immediate arena where two alternative geopolitical paradigms are contesting for supremacy. Southeast Asians do not want to and should not have to choose between the two, but Chinese behavior is moving some states to pick sidesor at least to lean in one direction or another. Media Relations Manager, External Relations. To that end, the region is . According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), it carries one-third of global shipping, carrying trillions of dollars in trade, making it a significant geopolitical water body. But if China continues to play its cards wrong and if the United States proves itself a dependable partner, American warships could one day regularly operate out of Cam Ranh Bay, the strategically located port-of-call, for the first time since the Vietnam War. The United States now has the opportunity to secure for another generation the peace that has held in Asia for nearly four decades now. In order to understand the contention of the South China Sea and its significance, it is firstly imperative to understand the geopolitical importance of Asia, which has given rise to Chinese pre-eminence; enabling its rise to contemporary major political power on the global stage. Because of its location, this sea is extremely strategic because it connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Malacca). Center for Strategic and International Studies The Art of War helps expose the motivation behind past, current, and future Chinese actions. Importantly, the Air Forces presence on Luzon, perhaps to be followed by regular naval rotations in Subic Bay, will put the United States in a better position to quickly seal up the Luzon Strait, which links the South China Sea to the Philippine Sea and the wider Pacific Ocean. Since 2009, China has growingly asserted its influence over the SCS by enforcing an annual fishing ban, conducting regular maritime patrols, undertaking scientific surveys and conducting military exercises in the disputed islands and waters. Seventh Fleet patrolled the regions seaways, including the South China Sea, unchallenged including agreed access to ports throughout much of the region. In recent years, Chinas inventive engineering feats have allowed it to create more than 3,200 acres of new land in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Japan is providing ten new multi-role vessels to the Philippine Coast Guard; Manila is also interested in procuring used P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft from Tokyo. Leung, The Consequences of Conquest: Why Indo-Pacific Power Hinges on Taiwan, United States vs China: from Partnership to Antagonism - Interview with Alfredo Toro Hardy, How the Ukraine War changes Global Geopolitics, What The Economist omits to address in President Xi's vision of a global security order, Armenia: Trapped in Between Interview with Gayane Novikova, How Chinas COVID Policy Reversal Impacts Globally: an interview with Neeraj Singh Manha, Marcos-Xi Durian Diplomacy Climbs to Higher Gear, Is the EU Really Willing to Enlarge in the Western Balkans? Therefore, the SCS has geopolitical and geostrategic importance for the energy and economic security of China and East Asian countries; but also for the USA as $1.2 trillion of its trade moves through the waters. Such pressure should focus on concrete, near-term objectives, such as putting a stop to reeducation of regime critics. The same cannot be said for China and a maritime Southeast Asia that aligns with the United States. The 2022 Philippine Election: Trouble for Democracy and Foreign Relations Ahead? Vietnam's coastline bordering the South China Sea is over 3,000 kilometers long. This article examines Chinas behaviour in the South China Sea disputes through the lens of its strategy for managing its claims. f) . This button displays the currently selected search type. By the mid-1990s, relations with Vietnam had begun a rapidly improvement. A third of the world's shipping passes through it, its fisheries are critical sources of food for millions of people. India and Vietnam, while acknowledging the strategic importance of the SCS and their volatile position when it comes to China's rising power, are edging closer toward each other. Second, the United States should feel comfortable adopting a patient approach in pushing a return to full democracy in Thailand. You can update your choices at any time in your settings. The South China Sea is one of the most important trade pathways in the world. Washingtons relationship with Hanoi will make that more palatable. LinkedIn and 3rd parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our Services, and to show you relevant ads (including professional and job ads) on and off LinkedIn. Expanding U.S. access to Vietnamese facilities as described above could eventually render access to Thai facilities somewhat redundant, further weakening the institutional support for the alliance in the United States.

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