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It is time to pick
sides in the South China Sea
By Lin Cheng-yi ªL¥¿¸q
As part of US President Barack Obama¡¦s efforts to promote a US ¡§return to Asia,¡¨
Washington pushed the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPP) at the
recent APEC summit and proposed the creation of a Southeast Asia Maritime
Partnership at the East Asia Summit (EAS), policies that are intended to
constrain China both economically and strategically.
A public opinion poll conducted in nine Asian countries and released by Gallup
Inc on Nov. 18 showed that 44 percent of respondents supported US leadership in
Asia, while 30 percent support Chinese leadership in the region. In Australia,
the Philippines and South Korea, the support for US leadership was 29 percentage
points higher than support for Beijing.
China has taken note of the shift in the strategic focus of the Obama
administration as the US winds down its involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, and
believes the US¡¦ primary goal is to constrain Beijing. Obama recently announced
that the US would deploy 2,500 troops at a military base in Darwin, Australia,
starting next year. Add to that the continued activities of US warships and
fighter jets in East Asia.
Although the US has said it wants a ¡§positive, cooperative, and comprehensive
Sino-US relationship for the 21st century,¡¨ signs of disagreements between the
two countries over the South China Sea are becoming increasingly obvious.
In July last year, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly
challenged China¡¦s claims to sovereignty over the whole South China Sea. In
June, after procrastinating for several years, China finally reached an
agreement with ASEAN on guidelines for the implementation of a Declaration on
the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, signed in 2002, a sign of US
influence in the region.
Beijing has been enforcing a unilateral ban on fishing in the region to protect
fishery resources, cutting the cables of a Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp (PetroVietnam)
vessel, warning Western oil companies not to cooperate with the Philippines or
Vietnam in oil and gas exploration projects and expelling US warships and
fighters conducting military operations in China¡¦s ¡§exclusive economic zone.¡¨ As
a result, China¡¦s number of friends in the South China Sea region is dwindling.
Through the newly proposed Southeast Asia Maritime Partnership, the US will
provide training and equipment to maritime police and civil units in Southeast
Asian countries to enhance their ability to combat transnational threats.
The US is also prepared to share maritime surveillance and information and hold
regional conferences to reinforce standard operating procedures, as well as
create more space for discussions on the Law of the Sea. Moreover, Washington
plans to carry out multinational drills in the South China Sea to help other
nations in the region build and expand their maritime capabilities.
Although Beijing hopes to cooperate with Taipei to study the legal significance
of China¡¦s ¡§U-shaped Line¡¨ in the South China Sea, and jointly explore for oil
and patrol the region to safeguard their rights, China has continued to block
the participation of the Taiwanese government in official international
discussions over the South China Sea issue.
China¡¦s aggressiveness has ruined the image of a peaceful rise that it spent so
many years cultivating.
The juxtaposition of Chinese and US interests in the South China Sea means that
the risk attached to any Taiwanese cooperation with China is growing.
Lin Cheng-yi is a research fellow at Academia Sinica¡¦s Institute of European
and American Studies.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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