20120422 PLA paper warns of naval conflict

PLA paper warns of naval conflict

KING OF THE SHOAL: Experts say China is wary of a US ‘return’ to the Asia-Pacific region now that Obama is reinvigorating diplomatic and security ties with allies

Reuters, BEIJING

China’s top military newspaper warned the US yesterday that US-Philippine military exercises have fanned the risk of armed confrontation over the disputed South China Sea.

The commentary in China’s Liberation Army Daily falls short of a formal government statement, but marks the harshest high-level warning yet from Beijing about tensions with the Philippines over disputed seas where both countries have recently sent ships to assert their claims.

This week US and Philippine troops launched a fortnight of annual naval drills amid the stand-off between Beijing and Manila, who have accused each other of encroaching on sovereign seas near the Scarborough Shoal, west of a former US navy base at Subic Bay.

The exercises are held in different seas around the Philippines; the leg that takes place in the South China Sea area starts tomorrow.

“Anyone with clear eyes saw long ago that behind these drills is reflected a mentality that will lead the South China Sea issue down a fork in the road towards military confrontation and resolution through armed force,” said the commentary in the Chinese paper, which is the chief mouthpiece of the People’s Liberation Army. “Through this kind of meddling and intervention, the United States will only stir up the entire South China Sea situation towards increasing chaos, and this will inevitably have a massive impact on regional peace and stability.”

Up to now, China has chided the Philippines over the dispute about the uninhabited shoal known in the Philippines as the Panatag Shoal and which China and Taiwan call Huangyan Island (黃岩島), about 124 nautical miles (230km) off the main Philippine island of Luzon.

China has territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan in the South China Sea, which could be rich in oil and gas and is spanned by busy shipping lanes.

Beijing has sought to resolve the disputes one-on-one, but there is worry among its neighbors over what some see as growing Chinese assertiveness in staking claims over the seas and various islands, reefs and shoals.

In past patches of regional tension over disputed seas, hawkish Chinese military voices have also emerged, only to be later reined in by the government, and the same could be true this time.

Since late 2010, China has sought to cool tensions with the US over regional disputes, trade and currency policies, human rights and other contentious issues. Especially with the Chinese Communist Party preoccupied with a leadership succession later this year, Beijing has stressed its hopes for steady relations throughout this year.

Nonetheless, experts have said that China remains wary of US military intentions across the Asia-Pacific, especially in the wake of the US President Barack Obama’s vows to “pivot” to the region, reinvigorating diplomatic and security ties with allies.

“The US strategy of returning to the Asia-Pacific carries the implication of a shift in military focus, and there is no better strategic opening than China’s sovereignty disputes with the Philippines and other countries in the South China Sea,” the newspaper said.