WORLD - Troubled Waters: China's Claim Over South China Sea

 

JAN 9 2022

The South China Sea (SCS) dispute, which began in the 1950s and instigated by China, is still unresolved until today.

China’s reason for claiming sovereignty over the SCS is mainly fuelled by the region’s estimated 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The affected ASEAN member-states of the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam must join forces to confront China and put an end to their bullying tactics.

These countries share an economic interdependence with China over the last 25 years, which has become the much needed support system for both economic development and bilateral relationship.

However, constant trespassing by China via sea and air has resulted in resentment and anger among these ASEAN nations.

If there is no end to the territorial intrusions and claims, it will affect future economic dealings and bilateral relationship between China and the bloc.

In the Philippines, in a single incident in March in 2021, over 200 Chinese militia vessels stormed into the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles from the coast of Philippines.

Chinese vessels have remained near the Spratly Islands since, prompting protests from Manila at the time but have withered.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s “buddy-like” relations with Beijing did not help to defuse China’s claims over the SCS.

Analysts said the next Philippine leader, who will be elected in May 2022, must be more aggressive in dealing with China.

In 2016, the Philippines were awarded a victory when an international tribunal in The Hague dismissed China’s claims in the SCS.

The judges had ruled that specific portion of the sea claimed by both countries belonged to the Philippines alone.

China rejected the ruling and in recent years, has built artificial islands in the disputed sea and also hampered oil exploration activities by the Philippines in its region.

Chinese fishing and maritime militia vessels continue to prowl the areas which are internationally recognised to belong to other countries.   

The SCS contributes around 27 per cent of the Philippines’ total fisheries production.

 

Meanwhile, in June last year, Malaysian air force jets had intercepted 16 Chinese aircraft entering its airspace. The Chinese air force came within 60 nautical miles of Borneo.

The Malaysian Auditor-General’s Report 2018 Series 3 stated that China's military had encroached into Sabah's and Sarawak's waters in the SCS 89 times from 2016 to 2019.

“Five diplomatic protest notes have been issued to China for trespassing into Malaysian waters following 29 reports lodged by the Royal Malaysian Navy from 2018 to 2019,” the report said.

In early December, Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi have agreed that the SCS represented both countries’ deep-rooted bilateral relations.

“As a member of ASEAN, we appreciate the fact that China is also working with us on the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea,” Saifuddin said.

However, it remains to be seen if China will continue to honour this Code of Conduct in the coming weeks.

In November, the Taiwanese Navy deployed one of its two most advanced submarines in naval drills in the Spratly Islands.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence claimed that this exercise was meant for the country’s defence report for 2021.

Taiwan controls two of the largest islands in the South China Sea, the Dongsha (Pratas) Island and the Taiping (Itu Aba) Island.

The 19 kilometre EEZ surrounding Itu Aba is said to have significant reserves of oil and natural gas.

This island is also claimed by China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Taiwan also has the world’s largest fleet of tuna vessels with an estimated haul of 753,000 metric tons of seafood, generating US$1.6 billion.

In recent times, random and aggressive fishing methods used by Chinese fishing vessels disrupted the marine ecology in Taiwanese waters and deprived local fishermen of their source of livelihood.

Southeast Asia is a massive neighbouring region for China which is also connected by land.

If China persists with its territorial claims, it will affect its major outbound investment destinations and foreign direct investments in these ASEAN countries.

Sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure, high-tech, digital economy and green economy will be at risk if the situation prevails.

Trade between China and ASEAN for the first eight months of 2021, rose 33.3 per cent year-on-year to US$553.92 billion, accounting for 14.5 per cent of China's total foreign trade in this period.

This easily makes China the largest trading partner for ASEAN and ASEAN as the third largest for China.

The Chinese culture traditionally promotes peace and harmony and their leader Xi Jinping, has called for the progress of an ASEAN region with similar interests, not too long ago.

The time has come for China to display its culture of peace and harmony that it is very proud of by ending its intrusion and territorial claims, sooner rather than later.