China has adopted an increasingly assertive posture towards its own claims by elevating it to a core interest, strengthening its fishery law enforcement and building civilian and military facilities in the disputed islands and waters. Australia and Vietnam established a Comprehensive Partnership in 2009 and agreed to expand it in 2015. Now, the two militaries will increasingly exercise and train across a broad spectrum of military operations, from the low end to the high. 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. China remains uncompromising on sovereignty, has increased its capability to enforce its de facto control in disputed areas, and has sought to advance its claims while staying below the threshold for direct military conflict with the United States. The sea is rich in resources and holds significant strategic and political importance. But addressing the risks of its near seas means tackling the time-consuming and costly project of building, training and deploying a stronger blue-water navy while also establishing a greater . In sum, the United States has built and maintained a dense network of security links and obligations throughout East and Southeast Asia all sustained by regular contact with the Seventh Fleet as it transits the region via the South China Sea. 1982 More than 160 nations conclude the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, an international treaty setting out the framework governing the oceans and their uses. The South China Sea is one such essential waterway, made more important by the value of the sea's fisheries and subsea resources such as natural gas. More than 50% of world trade passes through the Strait of Malacca, the Sunda Strait and Lombok Strait over the islands and waters of the SCS amounting to around $5 trillion. What is the Strategic Importance of the South China Sea? Yet, it was and is all of that. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. South China Sea or even some part of its strategically significant zones will provide the sovereign nation state significant seat in global trade agreements. In addition, it has proved oil and gas reserves, so the sovereignty of the disputed islands involves legal rights to exploit its resources. Chinas rising military power and political influence is generating anxiety and suspicion among some of its neighbours and western powers. Inconsistent messaging and policiesincluding on freedom of navigation and routine presence operationshave also led to confusion in the region. The diplomatic tempest at the ARF came when U.S. security attention was preoccupied with ongoing military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the global counterterrorism campaign with Osama bin Laden still at large. Total fish stocks have been depleted by 70 to 95 percent since the 1950s. China has harassed U.S. Navy ships operating in the South China Sea, warned military flights to stay away from its artificial islands, and recently seized a U.S. drone operating in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. The area marked with a blue line is based on the UNCLOS 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) relating to each countrys claims and the islands marked in green are the ones over which sovereignty is disputed. Almost all the East Asian countries are dependent on this sea. and Amy Searight. The South China Sea is not only economically important for Malaysia as a maritime nation, but it is also as important from the perspective of national security. "First, South China Sea is important for the strategic patrol of Chinese SSBN [nuclear ballistic missile submarine], which needs to enter west Pacific Ocean for its nuclear . The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. In short, adopting a more robust deterrence approach need not prevent cooperation that is in the interests of both countries. Countering Chinas efforts has become a key test of perceived U.S. commitment to many in the region. While consistency in U.S. messaging and policy execution is important, it should be balanced by carefully calculated unpredictability in operations and tactics to prevent Beijing from becoming overly confident in its ability to anticipate U.S. reactions. The strategic landscape of the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia in the early 1990s was remarkably benign with optimism in full flower. Media Relations Manager, External Relations. The strategic landscape of the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia in the early 1990s was remarkably benign with optimism in full flower. The United States will continue to stand with our allies and partners to uphold the order that we helped build, Pencesaid. Without the southern American presence, Chinese forces could more easily divide American forces east and west in the event of a crisis, more easily defend territorial claims or intimidate Malaysia and Indonesia, and more easily threaten maritime and air traffic crisscrossing the South China Sea. With the National League for Democracy now in power in Naypyidaw, China cannot rely on Burma as an automatic ally. China is working hard to bring under its control the water, islands, rocks and reefs that sit within its imaginary nine-dash line. April 26, 2016 There is widespread interest in the rising tensions over the waters east of China. Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has undertaken more assertive policies that have greatly improved Beijings position in the South China Sea. In 1989 troops from the Peoples Liberation Army entered Tiananmen Square and terminated the student-led democracy demonstrations and hundreds died. U.S. access to the South China Sea is coming under increasing threat as Chinese power increases, but can be preserved if the United States maintains a sufficient military advantage over China. The two countries elevated bilateral ties to an extensive strategic partnership in 2013 and Japan is in the midst of donating to Vietnam six patrol vessels (for use by the coast guard and fisheries ministry). The two major power of the world i.e. Chinas military modernization has included structural reforms establishing a Joint Operations Command and five new theatre commands (Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western and Central). The Thai people are lurching towards a new political arrangement, a process that Thais have to see through for themselves. the South China Sea that would be " - S " ["permitting a leaf to obscure one's view of the mountain"]. China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and. From a strategic perspective, the geographical significance of the SCS is that whoever has dominance over it, dominates the future of East Asia. 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. 2023 Center for Strategic & International Studies. These actions suggest that China might undermine freedom of navigation and overflight, principles of fundamental importance to the United States. - Interview with Mei Gechlik, Pelosi's visit to Taiwan Spiking Tensions Between the U.S. and China: an interview with Andrew K.P. In each of these arenas, a successful Chinese effort to seize control of the South China Sea will have a profound impact and each is worth elaboration. In . The United States should intensify capacity building efforts with allies and partners to improve their ability to resist Chinese coercion. The "Implementing the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand" (SCS SAP Project) completed its Inception Phase with the 1st Steering Committee Meeting held online on the 29 and 30 of June, 2021 with official representatives from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam and the UNEP Task Manager for the project, with the support of . 1) Islands are much more strategically valuable. Journals and books. Other claimant states welcome U.S. involvement precisely because Washington does not favor one claimants territorial ambitions over those of the others. As one of the busiest trade routes in the world and home to a wealth of marine and mineral resources, the South China Sea holds great economic and geostrategic importance. In 2016, they carried fully one-third of global shipping with an estimated value of $3.4 trillion. Hence, the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Marcos Jr. had previously said his country would pursue oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea even without a deal with China, which claims almost all of the 1.3 million square mile South . Coral reefs, which are vital to marine habitats, have been declining by 16 percent per decade, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. February 27, 2023. The United States has formally objected to Chinas South China Sea maritime claims. If this sounds overstated or overwrought it is not. China, however, must now balance its continental concerns, which remain complex, against its new dependence on the maritime domain. Countries across the region prioritized economic growth and modernization. The refusal, likely prompted by Beijing, might seem to be just another way for China to put pressure on Taiwan, which it has long regarded as a renegade province. Current developments in the South China Sea must be understood against the backdrop of recent history. 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. Importantly, the countries of maritime Southeast Asia are not aligning only with the United States, but with a grouping of external states concerned with the nature of Chinas rise. . In practice, Thailand may be neutral in the regions great power fissures into the next decade. The reaction of the Chinese Foreign Minister was incendiary and revealing. 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. Because of its location, this sea is extremely strategic because it connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Malacca). All this will occur in a region that is increasingly the vibrant center of the world economy. The islands are important, however, for strategic and political reasons. To counter China's efforts to control the South China Sea, the United States needs a sustainable strategy to bolster its own capabilities, work more effectively with capable allies and partners, and strengthen the regional order. 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. Three years ago an arbitration tribunal issued a decision finding that Chinas maritime claims in the South China Sea are inconsistent with the Law of the Sea Convention. Stay Connected! 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.. From the report. 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. Most of China's global trade is seaborne. It is unlikely that any states in the region possess the wealth and power to oppose this, although there is always a realistic possibility that they may receive backing from the USA if it is in their interests. China's strategic reach into the South China Sea has obvious and profound implications for three sets of international actors: (1) the littoral Southeast Asian states (Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines); (2) major maritime countries heavily dependent on the sea lanes through the South China Sea (including Japan, Korea, and 1994 The Convention on the Law of the Sea goes into effect. But the South China Sea has been dangerously overfished. 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. Preserving the U.S. military edge is key to maintaining the U.S. position in Asia. or join us on Facebook. 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. The strategic importance of the South China Sea cannot be overstated. Thanks to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), American power projection capabilities will be regularly present in the Philippines for the first time since the early 1990s. Thats why the United States has urged countries to resolve maritime claim disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law. 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. Since the mid-1990s, China has pursued a strategy . director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative at Peking . Even then, the countrys division between royalists and red-shirts will likely endure. It is a rich source of hydrocarbons and natural resources. China sought access to natural resources, to political influence and to a strategic maritime position in the Bay of Bengal. Whomever is elected to be the next American president, that person would be wise to have in place a Plan B should the TPP fail to pass the Senate this year (such a Plan B is admittedly unlikely, given that both major candidates would bear responsibility for its failure in the first place). U.S. responses to Chinas South China Sea activities have been insufficient to alter Chinas behavior and have fed the narrative that China is pushing the United States out of the region. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Shortly after the ARF concluded, an official spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry asserted Chinas indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea. Such pressure should focus on concrete, near-term objectives, such as putting a stop to reeducation of regime critics. Australia, for its part, has vocally supported U.S. freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea and may have quietly conducted its own in recent months. 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 South China Sea is considered a "near sea" and its geographic proximity to the mainland is central to the China's strategic imagination and threat perception. A third of the world's shipping passes through it, its fisheries are critical sources of food for millions of people. You are approaching Chinese airspace. The strategic importance of the SCS is mainly due to its geographical location, as the area is one of the worlds busiest and most strategic shipping lanes. This principled stand allows the United States to defend its interests without embroiling itself in the murky sovereignty claims at the heart of the South China Sea dispute. It is highly likely that China will continue to upset regional stability in the SCS to expand its own sphere of influence. Japan and South Korea will face a perilous new reality with China in control of the seaborne lifeline of both countries. Improved governance will lead to stronger economies over the long term and dampen the influence of Chinese dirty money. Importantly, American access to four airbases (with potentially more to be made available at a later date)especially those on Luzon and Palawanwill make U.S. air power resident in Southeast Asia. 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The U.S. military used Utapao for refueling efforts during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s, as well as for multinational relief efforts after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and April 2015 Nepal earthquake., The U.S.-Thai alliance has also served as a platform for important training exercises. Chinas island outposts will increase this advantage as Chinese aircraft, ships, and paramilitary vessels will be able to rest and resupply in the southern portion of the South China Sea. A U.S. Navy crewman aboard a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft views a computer screen purportedly showing Chinese construction on the reclaimed land of Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. 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. The strategically important South China Sea is an increasingly prominent stage for the spiraling tensions . If China can exert complete control over the region, using predominantly the maritime domain, it can build a significant strategic sphere of influence and power. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. In December, another joint China-Russia naval exercise was held in the East China Sea (China Military Online, December 21, 2022). 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. In a meeting attended by the foreign ministers of 26 nations from the broader region, Clinton simply asserted that the South China Sea was subject to multiple territorial claims and a multinational mechanism should be established to find a peaceful diplomatic solution. 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. 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The lifting of the arms embargo also opens the door to other forms of U.S.-Vietnam security cooperation. The South China Sea, or South East Asian Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean.It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands . The conflict and tension over competing sovereignty claims in the South China Sea has grown considerably in the past 5-10 years. All these aspects highlight the strategic indispensability of the South China Sea for global trade routes. 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. It is the geostrategic importance that is usually the main reason for the parties to strengthen their claim over the Spratlys and the Paracels. Importance of South China Sea The South China Sea is a busy international waterway, one of the main arteries of global trade worth more than $5 trillion and is growing year on year. Pressing Challenges to U.S. Army Acquisition: A Conversation with Hon. The South China Sea is the gateway to access to the world ocean, the nexus for navigation as well as a security fence for several littoral states. The United States should continue to prioritize military presence in the Asia-Pacific at the same time as it invests in key capabilities, such as long-range precision strike, undersea warfare, cyber/space systems, and other capabilities that will preserve the U.S. ability to deter Chinese aggression.
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