mh-magazine domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/customer/www/chinacheatsheets.com/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6260Although the previous Administration often sent warships into the South China Sea to uphold freedom of navigation and challenge China’s claim to virtually the entire region, some analysts say this move went a step further.
Beforehand, these exercises involved a warship undergoing “innocent passage” and passing the sea without stopping – effectively recognizing territorial waters, much to the disappointment of regional allies that also lay claims to parts of the South China Sea.
In particular, the USS Dewy conducted a “man overboard” exercise, specifically to show that its passage within 12 nautical miles was not innocent passage, U.S. officials said. China says that in response, it sent two guided-missile warships warning the U.S. ship to leave the area.
Greg Poling of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank told Reuters: “The previous two freedom-of-navigation operations only challenged China’s demand for prior notification for innocent passage through the territorial sea; this one asserted that there is no territorial sea at all.”
However, U.S. Commander Gary Ross maintained the drill was not specific to one country.
The South China Sea is a strategic waterway by which $5 trillion in ship-borne goods pass through each year. It is contested by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines — the latter of which took the case to an international court and won. China refused to recognize the ruling. Beijing continues to build and militarize artificial islands in the region claiming it’s only building defenses legally in its own territory.
]]>“We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that first, the island-building stops and second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed,” said Rex Tillerson before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The man-made islands are being built on reefs across the South China Sea. Beijing lays claim to the territory around these islands; however, they interfere with her neighbors’ 200 mile exclusive economic zones, as defined by UNESCO. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims on the South China Sea.
Back in the U.S., Tillerson is alluding to taking President Barrack Obama’s stance in the issue a step further. For years, the sitting administration has vehemently spoken out against China’s island building and routinely sent NAVY ships into contested waters to defend freedom of navigation. Obama has also strengthened ties with nations in Southeast Asia challenging China’s territorial claims. In recent years, American ships have had some close encounters with the Chinese military in the South China Sea.
Trump’s nominee is also calling to extend the scope to the East China Sea, where China has enacted a special air zone above Japanese islands.
“They are taking territory or control or declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s,” Tillerson said.
China has pushed forward with island building and establishing what it calls necessary military facilities for defensive purposes. Late last year, a think-tank published satellite images of what it believed to be military installations on some of these islands.
China maintains its acts are legal even though an international tribunal ruled against its territorial claims in a case brought by The Philippines. Beijing said it will not respect the ruling
Responding to Tillerson’s comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China had the right to conduct “normal activities” in its own territory.
]]>It is uncharacteristic and rare for the Chinese military to make such military revelations. The Southern Theater Command of the PLA bore this significant intel by displaying the weapons on state television.
State media CCTV broadcast footage of PLA troops in the southern theater handling a DF-16 missile – a powerful artillery capable of reaching up to 1,000km and which could strike US military bases in Okinawa. The DF-16 was first presented on September 3 during a military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of War World II.
Earlier sources had reported that the PLA was equipped with the even larger and more destructive DF-21D missiles, ominously known as “carrier-killer” anti-ship ballistic missiles, with a range of 1,450km.
The CCTV video also showed new H-6K bombers, and disclosed that a division of jets has been deployed to the southern theater to patrol Scarborough Shoal.
But why would a military so keen on keeping its missions a secret suddenly reveal their massive weaponry on state television? As a political statement, experts say.
According to the South China Morning Post, military experts said the PLA’s disclosure “was intended to to show that the newly formed Southern Theater Command…was well-prepared for any potential military confrontation with the US.”
State news agency Xinhua announced Tuesday that in an inspection tour following the tribunal’s ruling, General Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, which oversees the PLA, urged his troops to train hard to meet any challenges.
“Air and sea patrols should be tightly organized to handle all kinds of emergencies to ensure security of sea and air borders,” General Fan said.
Commander of the PLA airforce General Ma Xiaotian and General Wei Fenghe, chief of the army’s Rocket Force, were also present.
Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie told SCMP General Fan’s visit demonstrated that China’s military could carry out joint combat operations – land, rocket, naval, and air.
“All the weapons showed on state media are defensive arms of short to medium range within 1,500km, meaning China so far is using restrained deterrence to warn the US not to challenge Beijing’s bottom line in the South China Sea,” Mr. Li said.
]]>Some of you – definitely including myself – may be wondering “what the heck is an air defense identification zone??” Well, here it is: ADIZ is airspace over land or water in which location, identification, and control of civil aircraft (non-military aviation, that is) is operated in the name of national security. Essentially, it’s a maneuver to over-extend a nation’s control of airspace by saying it is in the interest of “national security.” I hope that clears up some confusion.
China implemented a similar ADIZ only two years ago in the East China Sea.
South China Morning Post reports that one source asserted that the timing of any official declaration of the defense system depends largely on the security conditions in the region, particularly the U.S.’s military presence and recent strengthening of diplomatic ties with surrounding countries, both of which pose threat to China’s reach in the area.
“If the U.S. military keeps making provocative moves to challenge China’s sovereignty in the region, it will give Beijing a good opportunity to declare an ADIZ in the South China Sea,” the source said.
This news was revealed just ahead of a high-profile 3-day security forum in Singapore. The Shangri-la Dialogue, as it is called, is attended by defense leaders from a variety of countries, including Admiral Sun Jianguo and United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. The contentious situation in the South China Sea is set to head the agenda for the talks, which begin Friday.
China’s defense ministry responded to the South China Morning Post about the zone with a written statement, saying it was “the right of a sovereign state” to designate an ADIZ.
“Regarding when to declare such a zone, it will depend on whether China is facing security threats from the air, and what the level of the air safety threat is,” it read.
Tensions have continuously risen this year in the South China Sea, as China and its neighbors Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines all lay claim to the set of islands, coral reefs, and lagoons situated in waters rich with fish as well as potential gas and oil preserves – highly prized and advantageous territory indeed.
A recent report in Kanwa Defense Review, a specialized military affairs magazine based in Canada, stated that the Chinese government has defined the area of the ADIZ in the South China Sea and that their decision of when to announce would be a political one.
The new ADIZ would be based on the exclusive economic zone of Woody Island (the largest of the Paracel Islands smack in the middle of the South China Sea) as well as China’s set of seven new artificial islands in Spratly Chain.
Since I am untrained in international security terminology, I yet again had to do my homework. And I did. An exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, is a sea zone which is sanctioned by the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a state has special rights for exploring and and using marine resources (i.e. energy from water and wind). The area extends seaward to a distance of no more than 200 nautical miles (roughly 230 miles) from its coastal baseline. Interestingly enough, an EEZ only refers to the country’s rights below the surface of the sea; the waters seen from above – say, on a map or from a helicopter – are actually international waters.
Back to the topic at hand, China’s preparation of an ADIZ. Editor-in-Chief of the Kanwa Defense Review Andrei Chang said, “China’s new ADIZ will overlap with the EEZs of Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia, which are also planning their own ADIZs – with U.S. backing – if China announced it.”
Shanghai-based military commentator Ni Lexiong said China’s seven artificial islands had laid the foundation for the nation to establish the ADIZ in the South China Sea.
However, naval expert Li Jie offers a different view. He said there were signs that regional tensions would actually ease up after Rodrigo Duterte took office as President of the Philippines.
In a bureaucratic move, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended a congratulatory message to Duterte Monday, saying China hoped “the two sides can work together to bring bilateral relations back on a healthy track.”
]]>The SED, which occurs twice a year, is a framework for the highest members of the governments of the People’s Republic of China and the United States to assemble to mutually discuss topics of economic relations between the two countries.
However, this significant event will likely be overcast by the fast approaching ruling on international claims to the highly disputed South China Sea, which has created immense tension in the area, mainland analysts say. The Permanent Court of Arbitration will occur at the Hague next month or in June.
One of the countries at the heart of the rising conflict in the South China Sea is the Philippines. The archipelago nation took legal action against China, hoping that the court will declare that China must adhere to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
While Beijing insists the court has no jurisdiction and the feud should be settled bilaterally, the ruling is expected to go against China.
Associate Dean at Peking University’s School of International Relations, Jia Qingguo, said that at a time when the South China Sea issue has been featured in China-U.S. ties, the SED talks in Beijing would have “great significance”.
Sharing Mr. Jia’s perspective is Shi Yinhong, director of Renmin University’s Center for American Studies. Mr. Shi “expected both sides to restate their positions on the regional dispute but not reach any consensus. ‘The ruling, if announced by that time, is likely to intensify the confrontation [between the two states],’” South China Morning Post reports.
Another topic on the agenda for the the dialogue will also likely to include the U.S.-China Bilateral Investment Treaty. However, Mr. Shi does not expect much progress to be made on this front, as Barack Obama is nearing the end of his presidency.
Both analysts agree that these essential talks will continue to serve as a platform for the two leaders in international economics to manage their differences.
“But we should lower our expectations because there is a big question about whether Obama will be able to implement any of the agreements,” Jia said
The U.S. Department of State announced that John Kerry would also meet with Vice-Premier Liu Yandong.
The South China Sea Post writes that Zhao Kejin, deputy director of Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy, said “North Korea and the US-led Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact would also be discussed.”
“Even though it would be the Obama administration’s last SED, we should not underestimate it. Obama will be keen to [achieve] some milestone results … Whether there will be concrete results depends on … both sides,” Mr. Zhao said.
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Meet Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., the US military commander who warns that a “provocative and expansionist” China is “clearly militarizing” the South China Sea. He says it’s his job to inform Congress, US allies, and the American people about the Chinese threat.
The unapologetic admiral’s language starkly contrasts the tone of his more cautious commander-in-chief: Barack Obama.
Though not taking an official stance on the territorial dispute between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea, the White House has called on China to avoid military conflict, which could pull in the US to defend its allies.
The South China Sea is a waterway through which trillions of dollars in trade including oil passes each year. Beijing claims most of the region. China has been building artificial islands there complete with facilities like hospitals. Three are equipped with military-capable airstrips. At least one houses Chinese missile launchers.
Harris calls China’s three artificial islands in the archipelago region “military bases.”
The admiral says the biggest risk the US faces now is being pulled into conflict after a clash between China and a Southeast Asian ally.
Neither Beijing nor Washington wants war to break out from a spark at sea, but it’s Harris’s job to consider the possibility and prepare for the worst.
Pentagon officials say such a clash may take place at Scarborough Shoal. China in 2012 snatched this atoll from the Philippines, a US ally. Chinese military commentators say Beijing plans to turn this island, which is only 120 miles away from the Philippine coast, into a fortress.
“In the China piece, we just have to be ready for all outcomes from a position of strength,” Harris told The New York Times. “All outcomes whether it is Scarborough, South China Sea in general, or some cyber attack.”
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However, a promising new military agreement by the United States and the Philippines could dramatically shift this status-quo.
After a 25 year period between the two countries, the U.S. and the Philippines will solidify a new increasingly complex military relationship this week.
“The Philippines has been a strategic partner with the United States since World War II, and it is one of the oldest American allies in Asia. For decades, it hosted major American military bases at Subic Bay and Clark Air Base. But in a wave of nationalist sentiment, Philippine lawmakers ejected the American military from the country in 1991. Years of strained military relations followed, but the two countries have come together in recent years over concerns about China’s claims in the South China Sea, which encompass more than 80 percent of the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines in waters that Filipinos call the West Philippine Sea,” the New York Times reports.
The Philippines’ current defense system, which is composed of two former U.S. Coast Guard cutters nearing 50 years old, and two fighter jets will be getting a huge upgrade with this new deal. The feeble cutters and jets the nation has now allows for China to remain controlling the territory, construct artificial islands, and chase off Filipino fishermen with ease.
The new military agreement between the U.S. and the Philippines, which the Philippine Supreme Court in January, will grant the U.S. permission to build and operate facilities at five Philippine military bases for 10 years. It will also spread more U.S. troops, planes, and ships across the island nation.
Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa on the western island of Palawan will be used by the Americans to “protect their interests further afield,” and the will be used by the Philippines to “monitor its economic zone in the South China Sea,” said Philippine military spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla.
“The American side has interests beyond our exclusive economic zone, including freedom of navigation throughout the South China Sea, so they will be using it to patrol beyond our areas,” he continued.
While the Antonio Bautista base is located right on the South China Sea, the other four bases included in the deal are far from it. One of these, the Lumbia Air Base on the island of Mindanao, is in an area known to be home to several groups that the U.S. classifies as terrorists. This is due to the new agreement also contributing to the joint efforts of the U.S. and the Philippines to combat terrorist activity in the southern region of the Philippines. The other bases American troops will utilize are: the Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base, located on Mactan Island, and Fort Magsaysay, a large-scale facility located just north of Manila.
Col. Padilla told the NYTimes; “It is shortsighted for people to focus solely on the South China Sea. There is a bigger picture here. We didn’t enter into this agreement for just one reason. We are modernizing our military.”
Matt Williams, country director in the Philippines for the risk management company Pacific Strategies & Assessments, also offered insight on the topic. According to him, the Philippines still has a long way to go. He warns that the expectations regarding the new military alliance’s impact on the South China Sea multi-nation struggle should be tempered.
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The territory at the center of the conflict is a set of islands, coral reefs, and lagoons situated in the South China Sea waters which are rich with fish as well as potential gas and oil reserves.
Power-strong China lays claims on the islands; but so do all of the surrounding, weaker nations.
Here is a further look into recent key developments of the contentious situation in the region:
THE PHILIPPINES – The Philippines has thus far been one of two (the other being Vietnam) of China’s most frequent enemies – so much so, that the island nation turned to the U.S. for support in defense against the massive China. In its annual war game exercises, the Philippines has been host to over 5,000 American troops. In fact, during these exercises, they deployed a highly mobile U.S rocket, the M142 HIMARS, for the first time.
A UN tribunal was held on The Philippines’ case against China and is waiting to soon hear the ruling. China refused to take part in the tribunal and furthermore, says it will not be bound by the result.
VIETNAM – The second of the nations regarded as China’s biggest adversary in the region has “demanded that China remove an oil exploration rig from an area of the South China Sea where their border is still being demarcated, and has lodged a protest with the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi”, abc News reports.
Le Hai Binh, spokesman for Vietnam Foreign Ministry, also called for China to cease its operation of a new lighthouse on Subi Reef in the Spratlys, which is also claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan, and The Philippines.
However, the Chinese Embassy has refused all of Vietnam’s appeals, saying that the oil rig is “conducting standard exploratory activities within waters under China’s ‘undisputed’ jurisdiction”, according to abc News.
INDONESIA – On March 19 of this year, an Indonesian patrol ship intercepted a Chinese fishing vessel off the Natuna Islands – the point at which Indonesia’s economic zone overlaps with China’s “nine-dash line”. This incident sparked even more combative behavior between the nations.
Indonesian officials claim that when a Chinese coast guard ship a fisherman, it deliberately rammed the vessel as it was being towed in order to escape. As a result, Indonesia fired back by refusing to release eight Chinese crew members who are being held on charges of illegal fishing.
MALAYSIA – Malaysia is upset that 100 Chinese fishing boats have encroached on its territory, near the shores of Loconia Shoals. However, China considers those waters to be traditional Chinese fishing grounds, and thus have a right to be there.
An example of China’s reaction in all of this:
“Washington should know that the more provocative moves it makes against China, the more counter-measures Beijing will take. Such an undesirable cycle may push both sides nearer confrontation and cause both to prepare for the worst-case scenario, potentially making it self-fulfilling.” — editorial in the U.S. edition of the state-supported China Daily.
With all of these recent key developments, there is sure to be more tensions in the South China Sea.
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“(We) must resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty, maritime rights and other core interests,” Zhou said.
China is currently at odds with its neighbors over territorial claims in the South China Sea. China claims most of the resource-rich region. Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines claim parts of it as well. China is also in disputes with Japan over the Diaoyu or Senkaku islands in the East China Sea.
It is unlikely that these nations would acknowledge the legitimacy of China’s proposed maritime court.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is currently hearing a lawsuit brought against China by The Philippines.
Manila argues that China’s “nine-dash line,” which Beijing uses to define its territory in the South China Sea, is illegal under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. This document claims exclusive economic zones can only extend 200-nautical miles. Both nations have signed on to this agreement.
Still, Beijing doesn’t recognize the court in The Hague.
China has been escalating regional tensions by building artificial islands in the South China Sea. Some are complete with facilities, runways and even surface-to-air missiles. China maintains these actions are well within its rights and carried out to protect its sovereignty.
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“We are concerned that China has taken a number of unilateral steps over the last several years that we think raise tensions in the region and are destabilizing,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.
Earlier this week, US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris noted China was “changing the operational landscape of the region.”
The South China Sea serves as a passageway for more than $1 trillion in ship-borne goods including a third of the world’s oil shipments each year. China claims virtually the entire region. It is also claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
“Short of war with the United States, China will exercise de facto control of the South China Sea,” Admiral Harris said.
During a state visit in September, President Xi Jinping maintained that Beijing “does not intend to pursue militarization” in the Spratly Island chain.
Speaking at a forum at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Kritenbrink said the US wants China to extend its non-militarization pledge “across the entire South China Sea.”
China continues to expand its military footprint in the South China Sea while expanding its artificial islands there, despite warnings from the US and regional neighbors.
Earlier this year, the US Navy sent a Destroyer vessel near disputed islands to uphold international freedom-of navigation laws. China has ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The US also wants China to respect an upcoming ruling in The Philippines’ lawsuit over territory in the region. China does not recognize the Hague-based international court involved.
Kritenbrink says the “extremely important” ruling will outline how countries can peacefully solve territorial disputes.
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