As building of military facilities continued in 2015, the US explicitly announced its opposition to these constructions and tasked surveillance assets to conduct over flights in the SCS and significantly raised tensions. Historically, Taiwan's pivotal location off the China coast and between Northeast and Southeast Asia has served a variety of strategic purposes for regional powers, both offensive and defensive. The third will assess the policies/strategies currently employed by the United States in this arena as well as other plausible options. the South China Sea that would be " - S " ["permitting a leaf to obscure one's view of the mountain"]. Countering Chinas efforts has become a key test of perceived U.S. commitment to many in the region. 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. What is the Strategic Importance of the South China Sea? The United States needs to consider a wider variety of non-military responses to Chinas efforts to control the South China Sea, and more effectively build a local coalition to support these responses. The South China Sea (SCS) consists of over 200 tiny islands, reefs, shoals, atolls and sandbanks grouped in to 3 archipelagos the Spratlys, the Paracels and the Pratas Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal. Close allies such as Australia and Japan have a great deal to offer in terms of capability and capacity, and should be encouraged to do more. Southeast Asia will inevitably be rendered subordinate and compliant to Chinas will. All countries want positive economic and security ties with both China and the United States. Douglas R. Bush, Deterring a Cross-Strait Conflict: Beijing's Assessment of Evolving U.S. Strategy, Rethinking Humanitarian Aid: A Conversation with Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE USA, The South China Sea Some Fundamental Strategic Principles, Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project, Energy Security and Climate Change Program. by Geoffrey Hartman India has likewise pursued deeper defense ties with Vietnam, and Indian warships just made port calls at Cam Ranh Bay and Subic Bay while en route to trilateral naval exercises with the United States and Japan in the Western Pacific. In short, adopting a more robust deterrence approach need not prevent cooperation that is in the interests of both countries. The reaction of the Chinese Foreign Minister was incendiary and revealing. U.S. allies and partners in the region are drawing lessons from Chinese coercive behavior and the limited U.S. response to it, and some are beginning to doubt U.S. resolve and adjust their foreign policies in response. 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. European access to Asia will be through Beijing. The credibility of U.S. security support for allies and partners will be shredded. What evidence is there of increased projection of Maritime Power? Strategic Landscape of the South China Sea: While geopolitics indicates geographical relations with politics, there is another importance which is strategic. World. Preserving the U.S. military edge is key to maintaining the U.S. position in Asia. The United States will continue to stand with our allies and partners to uphold the order that we helped build, Pencesaid. From busiest . Does US-hegemonic decline translate into a fight between democracy and autocracy in maintaining a benign world order? 2009 China issues two diplomatic notes that appear to claim a majority of the South China Sea. In particular, Chinas growing assertiveness over sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea could be assessed as a serious challenge to the status quo in the region. As a result of this shift, China now seeks to control sea lines of communication, ensure national prosperity and continue economic growth and national greatness; the South China Sea plays a massive part in this. 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. A South China Sea Strategy By Dan Blumenthal, Michael Auslin, and Michael Mazza I. Beware China: America Fights Back In recent years, China's inventive engineering feats have allowed it to. This geo strategic significance is the main reason behind the fact that China and other territorial stakeholders are contesting to gain control of these maritime lane. President Musharraf requested China to invest in this important strategic chokepoint in the Indian Ocean., to which China agreed. Ownership claims to them are used to bolster claims to the surrounding sea and its resources. February 27, 2023. 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. The region also is the subject of more than a dozen overlapping and interconnected disputes over who is in charge of the various islands, rocks, shoals and reefs scattered throughout the South China Sea waters. U.S. access to the military facilities on the South China Seas southern flank, however, would shift the regions balance of power in Americas favor. 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. Seventh Fleet transits regularly between the Pacific and Indian Oceans (including the Bay of Bengal). The Balloon Incident and Evolution of Espionage. Finally, the United States should prioritize governance issues in its relations with Southeast Asian states. Talks are focused on articles that are relevant to disaster relief, but the agreements eventual parameters could expand as the U.S.-Vietnam security relationship matures. . That redundancy will grant the United States flexibility in a couple of ways. It is little surprise, then, that Southeast Asian states are drawing closer to the United Statesboth seeking aid in developing their own defense capabilities and hoping that stronger ties act as a deterrent to Chinese assertiveness. In particular, Thailand has a much more benign outlook on Chinas rise and on its activities in the South China Sea, and although suggestions that Bangkok would dump Washington for Beijing are certainly overstated, Thai elites are hesitant to be drawn into what they see as a U.S. effort to contain the kingdoms largest trade partner. Vietnam and the Philippines have also attempted to form a strategic alliance with Japan in their struggle with China in the SCS. Its strategic economic importance and its geographic location at the confluence of several spheres of influence have rendered it one of the "world's hotspots". The isolationist China has never traditionally had a deep water navy, with a significant power projection capability; however the production of its first aircraft carrier (Liaoning) has been a noteworthy change from a soft power in the land environment to a hard power projection at sea stance. If this sounds overstated or overwrought it is not. The strategically important South China Sea is an increasingly prominent stage for the spiraling tensions . 1. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the South China Sea dispute and to analyze why the dispute has yet to escalate, as well as the strategic importance of the South China Sea dispute to international trade. Therefore, the SCS has geopolitical and geostrategic importance for the energy and economic security of China and East Asian countries; but also for the USA as $1.2 trillion of its trade moves through the waters. The same cannot be said for China and a maritime Southeast Asia that aligns with the United States. Yet, it was and is all of that. 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. Now, the two militaries will increasingly exercise and train across a broad spectrum of military operations, from the low end to the high. Since 2014, China has stepped up the construction of artificial islands over the disputed Spratlys and Paracels in the SCS, causing an escalation of tensions, upsetting stability. The Obama administrations decision to lift the decades-old arms embargo on Vietnam is instrumental here. In addition, the United States has affirmed some responsibility for the defense of Taiwan and has close security ties with Singapore and New Zealand. Nevertheless, for America, this new world will be profoundly discomfiting and even alien. In practice, Thailand may be neutral in the regions great power fissures into the next decade. 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. Since 2009, China has growingly asserted its influence over the SCS by enforcing an annual fishing ban, conducting regular maritime patrols, undertaking scientific surveys and conducting military exercises in the disputed islands and waters. It was the first time that had ever occurred. Shortly after the ARF concluded, an official spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry asserted Chinas indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea. Hanoi will move cautiously and such access may be limited to the purposes of logistical support for the time being. With Burma internationally isolated for much of the past three decades, Beijing invested heavily in that countrys leadership. More than 50% of world trade passes. Follow the Asia Program on Twitter @AsiaProgram. Chinas significant increase in spending and capability of its maritime forces is of note. More than half of the world's fishing vessels are in the South China Sea, and millions of people depend on these waters for their food and livelihoods. The growing size and capability of the Chinese air force, navy, and coast guard allow Beijing to consistently monitor and exercise de facto control over most of the South China Sea. Australia and Vietnam established a Comprehensive Partnership in 2009 and agreed to expand it in 2015. This access will allow for more frequent, more sustained flights over the South China Sea, including over the disputed Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. by M A Hossain 3 March 2023 The geostrategic significance of Bangladesh derives from its strategic location at the crossroads of South and Southeast Asia, endowing it with a pivotal role in the re Security, Strategy, and Military Dynamics in South China Sea: Cross-National Perspectives on JSTOR. economic importance associated with the ocean is tremendous and manifold. Enduring U.S. interestsfreedom of navigation and overflight, support for the rules-based international order, and the peaceful resolution of disputesare at risk in the region. With a new Southeast Asian strategic alignment taking shape as described, geography makes Indonesia and Malaysiaespecially due to its Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneothe regions key swing states. 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. Although ultimately unsuccessful in Vietnam, America emerged in a surprisingly advantageous strategic position in Southeast Asia with alliances intact with Thailand and the Philippines and friendly ties with Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The two major power of the world i.e. Importantly, the Air Forces presence on Luzon, perhaps to be followed by regular naval rotations in Subic Bay, will put the United States in a better position to quickly seal up the Luzon Strait, which links the South China Sea to the Philippine Sea and the wider Pacific Ocean. Last year, the construction projects covered 72 acres. Other claimant states welcome U.S. involvement precisely because Washington does not favor one claimants territorial ambitions over those of the others. The U.S. militarys enhanced ability to loiter in and over the South China Sea, moreover, will facilitate more effective efforts to track Chinese submarines sailing from the PLANs underground naval base on Hainan island. Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has undertaken more assertive policies that have greatly improved Beijings position in the South China Sea. What is the strategic importance of the South China Sea. Preserving the U.S. military edge is key to maintaining the U.S. position in Asia. Center for Strategic and International Studies China has shown it is willing to accept substantial risk to achieve its ends, and has engaged in outright coercion against weaker neighbors like the Philippines and Vietnam. The primary challenge to American regional predominance came from Maoist China first through the Korean War and then via communist insurgencies throughout Southeast Asia culminating in the Vietnam War (1963-75). Back in 2006, Japan became only the second country (after Russia) to establish a strategic partnership with Vietnam. and Amy Searight. By contrast, China views. The United States has been less successful in supporting local partners as they resist Chinese coercion. China has tried to effectively annex the whole South China Sea region as its territorial waters, according to Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). This alignment will further U.S. goals: to continue to mount a forward defense, to keep the seas and skies free, and to promote prosperity and the spread of democracy. Moving forward, freedom of navigation and routine presence operations should be executed on a regular basis to demonstrate U.S. resolve to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows. And thus a new strategic map of Asia begins to emerge. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. All these aspects highlight the strategic indispensability of the South China Sea for global trade routes. The United States calls this treaty the Law of the Sea Convention.. The SCS is passage of half of the world trade. Not only Vietnam is the strongest opponent of the Chinese nine-dash line claim in the region, Vietnam's sustained economic growth has pushed it to emerge as an important player in the South East Asia, which China perceives is not in its interests. It is clear that increased maritime power projection in the SCS, from the Chinese in particular, has upset regional stability, and this is likely to continue. Narendra Modis Act East policy has resulted in an acceleration of burgeoning India-ASEAN ties and Indias position on the South China Sea territorial disputes essentially mirrors that of the United States. Pressing Challenges to U.S. Army Acquisition: A Conversation with Hon. The strategic value of the alliance remains high, according to theCongressional Research Service: *** U.S. As maritime security such as safety and freedom of . 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. This has continued in to the present day. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. 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. Rival countries have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries, but tension has steadily increased in recent years. Few in Washington were inclined to see the South China Sea as a strategic priority engaging vital U.S. national interests. Learn more in our Cookie Policy. The strategic landscape of the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia in the early 1990s was remarkably benign with optimism in full flower. Walter Lohman hasdescribedCobra Gold as an achievement that has proved useful for military missions, such as joint patrols of vital sea lanes, and noncombat missions, such as disaster relief following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in Burma.. Cooperation on areas of shared interest is important not only to the United States, but also to China. 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. That should, of course, remain the goal, but Washington must recognize that Thailand is in the midst of a decade-long political crisis, which is unlikely to be resolved until after King Bhumibols passing and the royal succession is completed. Countries across the region prioritized economic growth and modernization. Persistent American military presence at the eastern, southern and western points of the compassespecially when combined with regional states advancing ISR capabilities, for which the United States is providing investmentwould enable the United States to respond rapidly to incidents in disputed island chains or to Chinese attacks on U.S. and allied naval and air assets or on commercial shipping. 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. Burma, however, is a potential bright spot for the U.S. position in continental Southeast Asia. . The sea-lanes that pass through the South China Sea are the busiest, most important, maritime waterways in the world. 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. Michael Green, Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair; Dr. Zack Cooper, Fellow, Japan Chair; Bonnie Glaser, Senior Adviser for Asia and Director, China Power Project; Andrew Shearer, Senior Adviser on Asia-Pacific Security; and Greg Poling, Director Asia Maritime Transparency Initiativeto provide the analytical context and some fundamental principles that should guide strategic thinking on South China Sea policy. Figure 4 shows the overlapping sovereignty claims in the SCS, with Chinas claims according to the 9 dash line doctrine in red. How that competition will evolve remains to be seen, but the very fact of the contest should be understood as a reversal of fortune for China. - Interview with Mei Gechlik, Pelosi's visit to Taiwan Spiking Tensions Between the U.S. and China: an interview with Andrew K.P. 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. For example, targeted sanctions on Chinese companies involved in destabilizing activities could be considered. Diplomatic, informational, legal, and economic responses are currently underrepresented in U.S. China policy, and their incorporation into the policy toolkit will be important for successfully dissuading China over the long-term. The Obama administration has made modest gains in this regard, but it will be up for to the next president to seize that opportunity and ensure that Southeast Asias future is prosperous, peaceful and free. Many of these countries suffer from corruption and lack for effective rule of law. These same sea-lanes are a vital military artery as the U.S. Aung San Suu Kyi has no interest in antagonizing Chinawhich shares a border with Burma and is a major source of foreign investmentbut nor can she afford to alienate the United States or India. Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. Most of China's global trade is seaborne. Japan and South Korea will face a perilous new reality with China in control of the seaborne lifeline of both countries. All Rights Reserved. These actions suggest that China might undermine freedom of navigation and overflight, principles of fundamental importance to the United States. Generally, oil and minerals move north, and food and manufactured goods move south. The strategic importance of the SCS is mainly due to its geographical location, as the area is one of the world's busiest and most strategic shipping lanes. Meanwhile, Japan is providing ten new multi-role vessels to the Philippine Coast Guard; Manila is also interested in procuring used P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft from Tokyo. The South China Sea is one of the most important economic and environmental regions in the world. That grouping came under Chinese control an event that went almost entirely unnoticed in the wider world as the drama marking the end of the Vietnam War played out. The United States, moreover, should work with its other Pacific alliesAustralia, South Korea and especially Japanto consider ways that they can lead efforts to expand infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia, perhaps by reforming and enlarging the Asian Development Bank or by launching a joint infrastructure investment fund. Today's world is the US-led where China is a rising giant economically and politically. 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). "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 deterrence against the US," he explained. Chinas militarization and territorial expansion in the South China Sea is illegal and dangerous, Vice President Pence said at the East Asia Summit last year. The United States sent a carrier battle group there as well. The United States now has the opportunity to secure for another generation the peace that has held in Asia for nearly four decades now. 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. The new administration should issue clear and consistent strategic messages, since inconsistent articulation of the objectives of the rebalance strategy has caused confusion in China and amongst U.S. allies and partners. We will defend freedom of the seas and skies.. The South China Sea is a core interest of both Vietnam and China. the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States." Chinese control of the SCS-and, more generally, Chinese domination of China's near-seas region, meaning the SCS, the East China Sea (ECS), and the Yellow Sea-could substantially aect U.S. strategic, political, and economic interests in the Indo-Pacic region and .
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