These same sea-lanes are a vital military artery as the U.S. 1. 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. 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. China, for example, has asserted a maritime claim to a large majority of the South China Sea that is not consistent with international law. To this end, the new administration should perform an early, top-down, and thorough strategic review to enable greater consistency and effectiveness in U.S. South China Sea policy. Then again, China may see its efforts in the South China Sea blunted. Tokyo and Manila agreed to a strategic partnership in 2011. Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. 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 is the gateway to access to the world ocean, the nexus for navigation as well as a security fence for several littoral states. 2014 The United States and the Philippines sign an enhanced defense pact, strengthening the U.S.-Filipino relationship. 2023 Center for Strategic & International Studies. What is more important from a strategic viewpoint, however, is that global energy projections that the EIA issues in the International Energy Outlook, issued in October 2021, make it clear that China and Asia will have a sharply growing dependence on MENA and Gulf petroleum exports that may well extend through 2050. Abstract. A U.S. Navy crewman aboard a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft views a computer screen purportedly showing Chinese construction on the reclaimed land of Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. These factors combined give a strategic importance to the South China Sea that has led to numerous states Brunei, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam each pressing their own claims to . US and China is engaging in this sea to control all significance. The South China Sea is one of the most important economic and environmental regions in the world. In sum, the South China Sea is the immediate arena where two alternative geopolitical paradigms are contesting for supremacy. That claim remained shrouded in a calculated fog of ambiguity until 2010 when Secretary of State Clinton addressed the status of the South China Sea and its sea-lanes at a meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi. When China moved a massive oilrig, theHaiyang Shiyou 981, into Vietnams exclusive economic zone in 2014, Vietnam had limited options to respond, at either the low end or the high. U.S. interests in the South China Sea fall into three broad categories including: (1) Economic interests tied to the sea-lanes; (2) Defense ties with allies and other security partners; and (3) Implications for the global balance of power and influence. and Amy Searight. Sun Tzu Explains China's Shaping Operations in the South China Sea. Beijing has also been careful to avoid estranging Aung San Suu Kyi and adopted a largely pragmatic approach to the countrys transition away from authoritarian rule. In the past two weeks, Filipino . 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. A new arrangement for U.S. naval access to Cam Ranh Bay may well be in the offing. China's plan for populating the South China Sea was launched in 2012 when "Sansha City", the administrative centre for all Chinese-claimed features in the South China Sea on Woody Island in the . The South China Sea is basically China's export waterway to Africa and to Europe (among other markets), but in order for China's enemy (aspiring conqueror), America, to harm and weaken China maximally, and to use the United Nations assisting in that aggression, America and its allies have cast this vital trade-waterway as being instead basically just an area to be exploited for oil and gas . The strategic value of the alliance remains high, according to theCongressional Research Service: *** U.S. The "Implementing the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand" (SCS SAP Project) completed its Inception Phase with the 1st Steering Committee Meeting held online on the 29 and 30 of June, 2021 with official representatives from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam and the UNEP Task Manager for the project, with the support of . Strategic. Other claimant states welcome U.S. involvement precisely because Washington does not favor one claimants territorial ambitions over those of the others. Despite all that, Beijing now faces a competition with Washington (and Delhi and Tokyo) for influence in Naypyidaw. To counter China's efforts to control the South China Sea, the United States needs a sustainable strategy to bolster its own capabilities, work more effectively with capable allies and partners, and strengthen the regional order. The most likely single scenario for a major military engagement against a great power adversary would be one against China centered on the South China Sea. The Obama administrations decision to lift the decades-old arms embargo on Vietnam is instrumental here. Beijings moves have prompted Washington to counter Chinese assertiveness by forging a new strategic alignment in the regionone in which China dominates the South China Sea from the north, the United States and its partners do so from the east and west, and the states of continental Southeast Asia remain neutral or lean toward Beijing in the intensifying U.S.-China strategic competition. In April, Australian Defence Force personnel joined the U.S.-Philippines Balikatan maneuvers, which included an amphibious landing exercise. It threatens the sovereignty of many nations and endangers the prosperity of the world. China tries to control the waters by using fishing vessels that are part of the Chinese maritime militia, coast guard ships, and naval vessels to harass other countries boats and deny access to this key area. In addition to conventional concerns about territorial defense, the South China Sea is also important for China because of its nationalist claims to all of the tiny land . In my mind, this leads to 3 key questions to base any form of analysis from: In order to understand the contention of the South China Sea and its significance, it is firstly imperative to understand the geopolitical importance of Asia, which has given rise to Chinese pre-eminence; enabling its rise to contemporary major political power on the global stage. 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. Strategic Landscape of the South China Sea: While geopolitics indicates geographical relations with politics, there is another importance which is strategic. 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. Unfortunately, some countries fail to comply with the existing international law. Giving ground on vital interests in Asia will not encourage greater cooperation on global issues. The United States calls this treaty the Law of the Sea Convention.. Burma, however, is a potential bright spot for the U.S. position in continental Southeast Asia. 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. The strategic importance of the South China Sea is mainly due to its geographical location as the area is one of world's busiest and most strategic shipping lanes. Cooperation on areas of shared interest is important not only to the United States, but also to China. All Rights Reserved, Japans Emerging Role as the Worlds Consensus Builder, Balancing Acts in U.S. Southeast Asia Policy, Pakistans Foreign Policy Priorities: A Conversation with Foreign Minister by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Indias Economic Ambitions in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Paving the Path to Soft Power: Crucial Moments in South Koreas Cultural Policies, Afghanistan: The United States Must Stay Engaged. The 2022 Philippine Election: Trouble for Democracy and Foreign Relations Ahead? The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. 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. Australia, for its part, has vocally supported U.S. freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea and may have quietly conducted its own in recent months. 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. Improved governance will lead to stronger economies over the long term and dampen the influence of Chinese dirty money. Certainly, the ongoing reform process and the opening of relations with the United States amount to a strategic setback for Chinas position in the region. Security, Strategy, and Military Dynamics in South China Sea: Cross-National Perspectives on JSTOR. European access to Asia will be through Beijing. This is the first of three short essays examining the South China Sea as a first order strategic problem for the United States. In each of these arenas, a successful Chinese effort to seize control of the South China Sea will have a profound impact and each is worth elaboration. Marcos Jr. had previously said his country would pursue oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea even without a deal with China, which claims almost all of the 1.3 million square mile South . or join us on Facebook. By the end of the 1970s, communist insurgencies outside Indochina had been effectively suppressed. China perceives Vietnam as an obstacle for acquiring its control over this strategic sea. Miguel . See Media Page for more interview, contact, and citation details. To understand the statement we have to have a particular knowledge over the issue and have to look over the geopolitical and strategic importance of South China Sea. The South China Sea is one of the most important trade pathways in the world. 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 United States needs to maintain a difficult balancing act, supporting the democratic aspirations of the Thai people while remaining a security and economic partner of choice for the elites and armed forces. The United States has been less successful in supporting local partners as they resist Chinese coercion. Today's world is the US-led where China is a rising giant economically and politically. The United States emerged from World War II as a resident great power in East Asia. Chinas significant increase in spending and capability of its maritime forces is of note. China's actions in the SCSincluding extensive . 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. 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. It will always have an eye on the need to protect itself against attack from the sea, but there's much more to China's vulnerability than potential invasion or bombardment. 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. In addition, it has proved oil and gas reserves, so the sovereignty of the disputed islands involves legal rights to exploit its resources. Those bases may be vulnerable, but before and at the outbreak of hostilities, they will allow China to project power deep into maritime Southeast Asia, to threaten commercial and military passage through the sea, and to impose and enforce an air defense identification zone. China is undertaking a persistent, long-term effort to establish control over the South China Sea. Russian long-range aviation, despite performing frequent combat missions against Ukraine, is also conducting Pacific patrols, sometimes together with Chinese H-6K strategic bombers (Nikkei Asia, November 30). The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. Geopolitical platform, analysis of political, military, security, economic, social events with international and geopolitics relevance. China has steadily built capabilities and infrastructure, most notably military facilities on artificial islands, that enable greater control of the South China Sea. There were, however, cautionary signs for those prepared to see them. Shortly after the ARF concluded, an official spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry asserted Chinas indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea. The conflict and tension over competing sovereignty claims in the South China Sea has grown considerably in the past 5-10 years. Washingtons relationship with Hanoi will make that more palatable. All these aspects highlight the strategic indispensability of the South China Sea for global trade routes. 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. Stay Connected! The security assurances provided by the U.S. military presence coupled with the advent of regional institutions, notably ASEAN and the Asian Development Bank, nurtured that growth. . Center for Strategic and International Studies 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. 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. This has continued in to the present day. And thus a new strategic map of Asia begins to emerge. More than 50% of world trade passes. President Musharraf requested China to invest in this important strategic chokepoint in the Indian Ocean., to which China agreed. China, Russia and the Munich Security Conference. These actions suggest that China might undermine freedom of navigation and overflight, principles of fundamental importance to the United States. Navy P-8s are now regularly deploying to Singapore and, although without regular access, they have conducted patrols from Malaysia as well. Instead, perceptions of weakness may encourage leaders in Beijing to embrace more assertive behavior. In such a complex environment, it is important to have well-established, recognizable rules of international law. 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. This order embodies certain foundational political principles respect for international law, preservation of the real sovereign independence of regional states, a refusal to legitimate unilateral territorial expansion, and the unconditional acceptance of the sea-lanes as a global commons. The area is globally important for a few reasons. U.S. military advantage is of limited utility in this area and Washington has struggled to convince local partners to join in freedom of navigation operations. The risk to Chinese power projection lies predominantly with US interests. In short, adopting a more robust deterrence approach need not prevent cooperation that is in the interests of both countries. The United States should continue to prioritize military presence in the Asia-Pacific at the same time as it invests in key capabilities, such as long-range precision strike, undersea warfare, cyber/space systems, and other capabilities that will preserve the U.S. ability to deter Chinese aggression. The outcome of that contest will profoundly influence, if not shape, the 21st century world. Back in 2006, Japan became only the second country (after Russia) to establish a strategic partnership with Vietnam. The area includes several hundred small islands, rocks, and reefs, with the majority located in the Paracel and Spratly Island chains. 5 min. The two major power of the world i.e. In 1989 troops from the Peoples Liberation Army entered Tiananmen Square and terminated the student-led democracy demonstrations and hundreds died. In 2012, then Chinese president Hu Jintao voiced his desire to make China a powerful maritime nation. Islands in the South China Sea The islands of the South China Sea can be grouped into two island chains. Access to all three is now in doubt. Thanks to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), American power projection capabilities will be regularly present in the Philippines for the first time since the early 1990s. The United States sent a carrier battle group there as well. The post-war regional order. The United States will continue to stand with our allies and partners to uphold the order that we helped build, Pencesaid. Yet, it was and is all of that. Three years ago an arbitration tribunal issued a decision finding that Chinas maritime claims in the South China Sea are inconsistent with the Law of the Sea Convention. Successful capacity building efforts will allow Southeast Asian states to better help themselves, bolstering deterrence against low-level Chinese coercion and allowing the U.S. military to focus more on deterring high-level contingencies. Thailand, of course, has been an important security partner for the United States. At the economic front, it is estimated that an annual global trade of $5.3 trillion passes through the SCS. Indeed, when push came to shove, China would force its bilateral partners to choose between economic prosperity on the one hand and security and even sovereignty on the other. South China Sea and possible options. Nevertheless, Beijing had taken its first overt step to control the South China Sea. "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. India has proactively engaged in the South China Sea (SCS), notably via boosting its naval presence and forging ties with Vietnam despite China's aggression. The increasing activity of Beijing in the South China Sea, Consequences of US-China rivalry in Indo-Pacific and beyond, Balancing the giants: Australia between China and US. This article examines Chinas behaviour in the South China Sea disputes through the lens of its strategy for managing its claims. Ironically, the United States is drawing closer to communist Vietnam, in which human rights are serially abused, while growing apart from a major Vietnam War ally, largely due to concerns over democratic backsliding. The result has been to heighten tensions and allow Chinese forces to more easily project military power across the region. In . Washington (United States of America), February 27 (ANI): A Chinese J-11 fighter jet armed with air-to-air missiles intercepted the US Navy reconnaissance jet over the South China Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported. With Burma internationally isolated for much of the past three decades, Beijing invested heavily in that countrys leadership. Should they be neutral, China may lord over the southern reaches of the South China Sea from military bases on its newly created and expanded islands in the Spratlys. The U.S. military used Utapao for refueling efforts during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s, as well as for multinational relief efforts after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and April 2015 Nepal earthquake., The U.S.-Thai alliance has also served as a platform for important training exercises. Should those ties continue to expand, moreover, the United States may find that it has greater flexibility in dealing with a vexing regional ally: Thailand. The longstanding U.S. position that it takes no position on sovereignty disputes over land features in the South China Sea, while insisting that these disputes be resolved in a peaceful fashion and in accordance with international law, is sound and should be maintained. It was the first time that had ever occurred. The South China Sea (SCS) has great strategic and economic significance in the contemporary international politico-security environment. Report 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. 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. China is working hard to bring under its control the water, islands, rocks and reefs that sit within its imaginary nine-dash line. South China Sea is also strategically important due to the rising competition between China, Vietnam, Philippine and the US for military supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region. 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. It is the geostrategic importance that is usually the main reason for the parties to strengthen their claim over the Spratlys and the Paracels. This button displays the currently selected search type. Washington, DC 20036. Less sexy but no less important is a forthcoming arrangement by which Vietnam will allow the United States military to preposition supplies and equipment in Da Nang on the central coast. Because of its location, this sea is extremely strategic because it connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Malacca). Vietnam's coastline bordering the South China Sea is over 3,000 kilometers long. China is already providing indications of how it might act when it controls the South China Sea. These islands are large enough for military runways and well as SAM installations. 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. India is training crews for Vietnams new Kilo-class submarines and will sell Vietnam BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. The strategic signal of an Indian presence in the South China Sea Harsh V. Pant India has wider stakes in South China Sea as nearly 55% of India's trade with the Indo-Pacific region passes through these waters.