Tensions are rising again as China and the Philippines bump boats and trade diplomatic barbs
Tensions are rising again as China and the Philippines bump boats and trade diplomatic barbs over the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Adding fuel to the fire were recent “war games” staged by 3,000 American and Filipino marines near the hotly disputed maritime territory.
The latest row was sparked by alleged intrusions into each other’s claimed area in the potentially oil-and-gas rich chain of islands, where more than 50% of the world’s merchant fleet tonnage passes each year. It also comes ahead of a crucial East Asian Summit meeting later this month in Bali, Indonesia where world leaders will be in attendance and the issue on the agenda.
The latest incident, the ninth since March between the two rival Asian claimants, involved a Philippine warship that China alleges strayed into its sovereign waters on October 19. The Philippine ship became entangled with the cables of a Chinese fishing vessel, which at the time was towing 23 unmanned dinghies.
Filipino naval authorities admitted that its warship, the BRP Rizal, experienced a steering problem that led to its “accidental” collision with the cables of the Chinese fishing boat, which abandoned the dinghies and immediately left the scene. The Chinese vessel was spotted near the Reed Bank, which lies near the island of Palawan within the Philippines’ 250-mile exclusive economic zone stipulated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Reed Bank, which China refers to as Liyue Bank, is the same spot where in March Chinese patrol boats cut the cables of a vessel operated by the UK-based Forum Energy. The company was operating under an exploration contract with Manila. In 2005, Forum Energy’s seismic data of the Sampaguita area inside Reed Bank revealed a natural gas find with potential reserves of up to 20 trillion cubic feet. Earlier exploration of the area in the 1980s was halted due to China’s complaints.
With those potential riches at stake, both sides have dug in their heels. Beijing has demanded that Manila return “unconditionally” the seized dinghies, which the Philippine warship retrieved and brought to its naval base on the island of Palawan. Philippine foreign affairs officials have said they regret the latest incident but ruled out issuing any formal apology, reasoning that the Chinese vessel had illegally poached within Philippine waters.
“No apologies were necessary and none was given,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said. He also said the disposition of the dinghies will go through a legal process before being returned, a stance that has drawn the ire of Spratly Island watchers and pro-China propagandists in Beijing.
The Global Times, the English language companion of the China Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper, warned the Philippines against provoking China into taking retaliatory military action. “A counter-attack is likely,” the newspaper said in a strongly worded editorial, adding that the Philippines “should prepare for the sound of cannons” from China.
In the same paper, Chinese columnist Long Tao urged Beijing to wage “tiny-scale battles” against both the Philippines and Vietnam “to teach them a lesson.” Vietnam has backed the Philippines’ proposal to resolve the Spratlys dispute peacefully in accordance with international laws. The two Southeast Asian neighbors recently signed a series of cooperative naval agreements in an apparent attempt to counterbalance China’s rising assertiveness in the region.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary del Rosario felt it necessary to address the not-so-veiled threat in comments to local journalists. “It sounds like a grossly irresponsible, saber-rattling statement in contrast with the Philippine position which seeks the UN’s rules-based solution to the West Philippine Sea issue,” he said, using the official Philippine name for the contested maritime area.
Show of force
That war of words came against the backdrop of annual US-Philippine military exercises, known as Phiblex 2011, where the two sides tested and updated their inter-operability in line with their broad strategic alliance. The maneuvers were previously limited to ground warfare and focused on counter-terrorism operations, but in recent years the exercises have shifted to the seas, including in areas near the Spratlys.
The exercises included a mechanized amphibious assault, small boat raid, parachute operations, combined arms exercises utilizing aircraft and mortars, and artillery and live-fire training, according to the US Marines website. The US 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, the only forward deployed marine expeditionary unit and US’s force in readiness in the Asia Pacific region, took part in the exercises, according to the website.
Certain Chinese analysts have said the shift from land to sea is deliberately provocative and has exacerbated tensions between and among Spratly Island claimants, which also include Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia. The mouthpiece Global Times wrote in a recent editorial that the US-Philippine military drills near the Spratlys “provide no better excuse for China than to strike back”.
Despite the show of force, US and Filipino military officials gave their assurances that the nearly three weeks of drills held in October were not held to address security issues specific to the Spratlys.
“I don’t think this exercise will have any adverse implication on the security situation in the region,” Philippine Marine Corps deputy commandant Brig Gen Eugenio Clemen said. “We have been doing this for years,” he said, apparently referring to critics’ claims that the war games are directed against other claimants.
In a recent public forum in Manila, former US envoy to the Philippines Frank Wisner said any future misunderstanding among claimants could be avoided if a binding regional code of conduct was put in place. “We have noted with concern that the parties have not yet agreed on binding guidelines for implementation, a fact that leaves room for misunderstandings and the possibility of increased tensions,” he said.
Wisner, a former US under secretary of defense for policy, said a code of conduct would serve the interests of all Asia-Pacific stakeholders, including the US. “The United States is a Pacific power; our destiny is linked to this region. America’s security and economic well-being depend heavily on Asia and this fact will grow in importance in the years ahead,” he said.
Wisner noted that 80% of China’s and a large percentage of Japan’s and South Korea’s oil is shipped through sea lanes of the South China Sea. “The right of free passage and freedom of navigation and the orderly and consensual exploitation of the resources of the South China Sea are matters of huge importance to all nations,” the former US official said.
In the same forum, Chen Shiqiu, professor at the government-affiliated China Foreign Affairs University, cautioned against US involvement in the Spratlys dispute. “Internationalizing the South China Sea issue is undesirable as that will only further complicate the situation,” he said.
Echoing Beijing’s official line, Chen also said that the UNCLOS is not a basis for asserting territorial claims as it only prescribes the regime of maritime zones. “The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea has no provisions on sovereignty nor does it regulate sovereignty over islands of their original status,” Chen said.
“UNCLOS can in no way serve as a basis for a country’s territorial claim, nor can it change China’s indisputable legal status as having sovereignty over the Nansha islands,” he said, using China’s term for the Spratlys.
He cited four possible scenarios to resolve the territorial dispute, including resolution by threat or use of force; the “let it be” scenario where claimants would engage in a “war of words” or actions based on their unilateral claims; resolution through direct dialogue and peaceful means; and putting aside the dispute for joint development.
“Joint development will not only bring benefits to all parties concerned, but also create a favorable environment and atmosphere for settling disputes in the long run,” Chen said. According to him, joint development should be “the most practical, feasible and win-win way” for the claimants.
That cooperative rhetoric has been contradicted by both sides’ recent actions and without the implementation soon of a binding code of conduct the risk is rising that a war of words escalates into the use of force in the South China Sea.
Source: Asia Times
