China demands US warships keep away from disputed South China Sea islands
TENSIONS are set to escalate in the South China Sea as China seeks assurances the United States will not send warships to test its determination to lay claim to a string of remote, strategic islands.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said last night that the US needs to clarify its stance on proposed new patrols around the islands being used to establish a claim on key strategic oil and fish stocks.
China urged “the relevant country” to “refrain from taking risky and provocative actions to maintain the regional peace and stability”, Hua told reporters.
Since 2010, China has been actively asserting sovereignty over what it calls the “Nanyang” Sea, known in the West as the South China Sea, a 5.6 million square kilometre stretch of water, islands and reefs between it, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines.
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| Storm clouds ahead ... The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its escorting warships participate in a bilateral training exercise this week aimed at developing and expanding bilateral exercises with the Malaysian Royal Navy. Source: US Navy |
Hua said China’s upholds the international principal of freedom of navigation in the area — but that doesn’t mean foreign forces can operate freely there.
China has asserted it is seriously concerned about reports military ships and aircraft will be deployed by the US to challenge Chinese claims.
The Wall Street Journal last night quoted US defence officials as saying Defense Secretary Ash Carter had recently “asked for ideas” about how to address China’s moves to reinforce the occupied islands.
“We are considering how to demonstrate freedom of navigation in an area that is critical to world trade,” an anonymous US official later told Reuters.
While the US military already operates in the South China Sea, crossing the 12 nautical mile (22.2 kilometre) territorial limit around the disputed islands could raise dangerous tensions if China chose to respond.
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| Wary eye ... An armed Chinese fighter jet flies near a US Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft over the South China Sea about 135 miles east of Hainan Island. Source: US Navy |
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Tensions in the South and East China Seas have been quiet in recent months following a string of incidents in recent years.The US has so far not sent ships and aircraft close to the reclaimed reefs — the standard zone for territorial waters around natural land — in order to avoid escalating tensions, the WSJ reported.
However, a string of recent military exercises have been conducted with nations in the region and one of the US Navy’s most modern warships, the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth yesterday completed a weeklong deployment near the Spratly Islands.
“We’re just not going within the 12 miles — yet,” it quoted a senior US official as saying.
A challenge by the US military in the region could potentially trigger a regional standoff, the newspaper added.
Combat jets adopted Cold-War style tactics and flew close to US and Japanese patrol aircraft. In December 2013, the cruiser USS Cowpens was almost rammed by a Chinese warship escorting a new aircraft carrier on sea trials in international waters.
Any new push by US or Japanese aircraft or warships into this contested region is likely to evoke more of this kind of aggressive manoeuvring and posturing.
But it remains a dangerous game of international brinkmanship.
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| Power projection ... China’s experimental new aircraft carrier Liaoning. Source: Supplied |
“Chinese leaders in 2014 demonstrated a willingness to tolerate a higher level of regional tension as China sought to advance its interests, such as in competing territorial claims in the East China Sea and South China Sea. China’s military modernisation has the potential to reduce core US military technological advantages,” the US Department of Defence reported. Read more on Herald Sun
