China continues to try changing the status quo in the South China Sea (SCS) through bullying its smaller neighbors and creating more facts on the ground. After moving an oil rig into an area contested by both China and Vietnam last month, Beijing is apparently planning to send a second one into the area. Meanwhile, it’s apparently constructing an airstrip and sea port on Fiery Cross Reef, a move which could see the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) strengthen its military reach into the SCS through the deployment of shorter-range tactical aircraft. That comes amidst ongoing tensions between China and the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal, as well as growing concerns in Malaysia and Indonesia about China’s territorial ambitions. Let’s face it: China’s determined to push Southeast Asian countries into accepting what it perceives as its rightful territorial claims within the nine dash line. Scott Snyder isn’t alone in concluding that under President Xi Jinping’s leadership “China’s ability to exert its own sphere of influence in Asia is regarded as an expected benefit that will naturally accrue, regardless of the impact on the neighborhood.” The New York Times editorial board has also expressed concern about China’s power grab in the SCS. Chinese leaders seem to believe that the price for their consistent violation of established norms of behavior in maritime disputes won’t outweigh the benefits. They likely base that judgment on at least three assumptions: · that regional opposition to China’s ‘creeping expansionism’ remains disjointed, allowing Beijing to applying pressure selectively; · that the United States, which has drawn a red line in the (maritime) sand in East Asia by declaring that the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are covered by the US–Japan security treaty, finds it much harder to do the same in the SCS; and · that other external players such as Japan, India and Australia, won’t support the smaller regional claimant states. nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/tensions-the-south-china-sea-are-rising-what-should-10758
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 02:15:11 +0000