In December, another joint China-Russia naval exercise was held in the East China Sea (China Military Online, December 21, 2022). The reaction of the Chinese Foreign Minister was incendiary and revealing. There were, however, cautionary signs for those prepared to see them. To facilitate capacity building, Washington should preserve regional defense relationships while recognizing that the ability of the United States to partner with frontline states depends on their cooperation and adherence to good governance and human rights. 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 Korean War produced formal defense treaties with each of these countries plus a new, permanent military presence in South Korea. 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 . 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. The United States can stand firm on its principles and deter China from undermining the regional order while maintaining a productive relationship. Chinas claims over the legal status and maritime rights of the 9 dash line remain ambiguous and outside of UN recognised EEZ claims. In a context of great power competition, the South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as an arena of U.S.-China strategic competition. The USSJohn C. Stennistied up there for a few days in April. President Musharraf requested China to invest in this important strategic chokepoint in the Indian Ocean., to which China agreed. If this sounds overstated or overwrought it is not. Australia will be isolated with an uncertain future. Washington, DC 20036. Vietnam and the Philippines have also attempted to form a strategic alliance with Japan in their struggle with China in the SCS. 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. The United States will continue to stand with our allies and partners to uphold the order that we helped build, Pencesaid. In addition, this thesis intends to propose a solution to the dispute by pulling from a variety of sources. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. Generally, oil and minerals move north, and food and manufactured goods move south. The two major power of the world i.e. The area includes several hundred small islands, rocks, and reefs, with the majority located in the Paracel and Spratly Island chains. 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. All countries want positive economic and security ties with both China and the United States. These straws-in-the-wind gained strategic context because the PRC had long published official maps showing a boundary encompassing almost the entire South China Sea the nine-dash line.. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea Learn more in our Cookie Policy. Shortly after the ARF concluded, an official spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry asserted Chinas indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea. Without the southern American presence, Chinese forces could more easily divide American forces east and west in the event of a crisis, more easily defend territorial claims or intimidate Malaysia and Indonesia, and more easily threaten maritime and air traffic crisscrossing the South China Sea. There were, however, cautionary signs for those prepared to see them. First, the United States should feel more confident to pressure the junta on human rights concerns. The second will analyze the strategic landscape in and around the South China Sea. China sought access to natural resources, to political influence and to a strategic maritime position in the Bay of Bengal. These islands are large enough for military runways and well as SAM installations. 5 min. Center for Strategic and International Studies China, too, considers control of these waters to be of high strategic importance. But in order to achieve renewed stability in the regionto ensure that Southeast Asians are not susceptible to non-military Chinese coercionthe United States must strive to become more than just the security partner of choice. Dispersed American forces would act as countermeasure and would complicate defense planning for the Chinese military and political calculations for Beijing, while ensuring U.S. forces are positioned to support each other in the event of a crisis. In 2012, Vietnam and the Philippines sought to consolidate their partnership and alliance with the US in order to enhance their strategic position over SCS disputes. Today's world is the US-led where China is a rising giant economically and politically. This concept of regional order links tightly to a broader set of interests, values, and institutions embodied in the post-World War II international system a system that reflects U.S. values, U.S. leadership and is consonant with U.S. interests. The importance of the South China Sea | ShareAmerica 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. Why is the South China Sea contentious? - BBC News 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. 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). Thailand, of course, has been an important security partner for the United States. 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. 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. Situation in the South China Sea - ASEAN Main Portal The strategic landscape of the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia in the early 1990s was remarkably benign with optimism in full flower. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), it carries one-third of global shipping, carrying trillions of dollars in trade, making it a significant geopolitical water body. China is undertaking a persistent, long-term effort to establish control 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. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. Seventh Fleet patrolled the regions seaways, including the South China Sea, unchallenged including agreed access to ports throughout much of the region. In May, Australia and Singapore agreed to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. In the defense realm, the CSP paves the way for more bilateral military exercises, greater Singaporean access to Australian training facilities, enhanced intelligence-sharing arrangements and expanded people-to-people exchanges. (PDF) Strategic Importance of Gwadar Port - ResearchGate African community leaders take home lessons from U.S. All these aspects highlight the strategic indispensability of the South China Sea for global trade routes. The United States has been largely successful at preserving its own freedom of action and deterring outright Chinese aggression in the South China Sea through routine presence operations. Ownership claims to them are used to bolster claims to the surrounding sea and its resources. 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. 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. Sign up to receive ShareAmerica updates. All Rights Reserved. The South China Sea contains some of the world's most important shipping lanes. Coral reefs, which are vital to marine habitats, have been declining by 16 percent per decade, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 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. In the contemporary era, Taiwan remains geographically at the intersection of most of East Asia's danger points. Access to all three is now in doubt. See Media Page for more interview, contact, and citation details. Here's why the South China Sea is highly contested - CNBC Unfortunately, the allies now lack a shared strategic outlook, thus reducing the impetus to overcome recent bilateral political hurdles. Not taking a position on sovereignty allows the United States to flexibly intervene in the South China Sea to defend its interests and international rules and norms, while undercutting Chinese attempts to paint U.S. actions as a threat to Beijings sovereignty. It has deep ties with the military, which still dominates key parts of the government, and is a major player in the economy. Vivian Balakrishnan urges US and China to de-escalate tensions in The United States calls this treaty the Law of the Sea Convention.. India will lose its current freedom of access into the South China Sea and much of Southeast Asia. Almost all the East Asian countries are dependent on this sea. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Few in Washington were inclined to see the South China Sea as a strategic priority engaging vital U.S. national interests. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea | Geollect Any such assertion must rest on an understanding that critical U.S. national interests, including both economic and security interests, are at stake and at risk. You can update your choices at any time in your settings. Abstract. 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. Chinese Military Expansionism in the South China Sea 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 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. 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 South China Sea is a core interest of both Vietnam and China. 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. The neighboring South East Asian countries of the highly volatile and busiest waterways of the South China Sea (SCS) have overlapping claims of sovereignty. The Malacca Strait, the South China Sea and the Sino-American If full democratization is her goal, there is no foreign partner more important than Washington for achieving it. Tokyo and Manila agreed to a strategic partnership in 2011. April 26, 2016 There is widespread interest in the rising tensions over the waters east of China. 2009 China issues two diplomatic notes that appear to claim a majority of the South China Sea. The strategically important South China Sea is an increasingly prominent stage for the spiraling tensions . In addition, it has proved oil and gas reserves, so the sovereignty of the disputed islands involves legal rights to exploit its resources. Security, Strategy, and Military Dynamics in South China Sea: Cross In addition, the United States has affirmed some responsibility for the defense of Taiwan and has close security ties with Singapore and New Zealand. 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. 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. This has continued in to the present day. What has been happening in the South China Sea and what do experts The post-war regional order. In April, Australian Defence Force personnel joined the U.S.-Philippines Balikatan maneuvers, which included an amphibious landing exercise. China, of course, has important strengths in Burma. The South China Sea in Strategic Terms | Wilson Center 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). In 2010, the US declared its freedom of navigation in the SCS to be a national interest in response to Chinas increasingly assertive posture. 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. To that end, the region is . 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. Why is the South China Sea so important to the US? The strategic importance of the South China Sea cannot be overstated. Miguel . 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. Japan and South Korea will face a perilous new reality with China in control of the seaborne lifeline of both countries. Malaysia's Diplomacy in the South China Sea: Between the Devil and the India is training crews for Vietnams new Kilo-class submarines and will sell Vietnam BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. The credibility of U.S. security support for allies and partners will be shredded. From the report. The USA have a direct connection to the area through various allies, connections and trade, and this will naturally continue. Burma, however, is a potential bright spot for the U.S. position in continental Southeast Asia. But the South China Sea has been dangerously overfished. By the end of the 1970s, communist insurgencies outside Indochina had been effectively suppressed. With Burma internationally isolated for much of the past three decades, Beijing invested heavily in that countrys leadership. 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. The strategic value of the alliance remains high, according to theCongressional Research Service: *** U.S. 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 Art of War helps expose the motivation behind past, current, and future Chinese actions. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea - LinkedIn Firstly, the South China Sea is a prominent shipping passage with $5.3 trillion worth of . Allied efforts to support U.S. force posture in the region will remain vital, but the United States should also expect allies to make greater contributions in responding to Chinese coercion. When it comes to trade, investment and infrastructure development, China should not be the only game in town. The United States emerged from World War II as a resident great power in East Asia. 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. Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has undertaken more assertive policies that have greatly improved Beijings position in the South China Sea. As one of the busiest trade routes in the world and home to a wealth of marine and mineral resources, the South China Sea holds great economic and geostrategic importance. 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. Brunei's statement seems to present a unified front with the Philippines and Vietnam, in preparation for its ASEAN chairmanship in 2021, where ASEAN and China hope to finalise the formulation of the code of conduct to reduce tensions in the South China Sea. Anti-China alliance coalescing in South China Sea - Asia Times 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. "American aircraft, this is the PLA air force. US and China is engaging in this sea to control all significance. Why Is the South China Sea Important? - Money Morning South China Sea - Wikipedia WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the disputed South China Sea has a strategic significance for the international community and any "unlawful" restriction on the freedom of the seas will destabilise peace in the Asia-Pacific region. 2013 The Philippines challenges Chinas claims of historic rights and other actions in an arbitration case under the Law of the Sea Convention. The United States has formally objected to Chinas South China Sea maritime claims. director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative at Peking . As the new administration sets out to revamp U.S. strategy in the South China Sea, it should keep the following guidelines in mind: Although Chinese cooperation is necessary to address some regional and global issuessuch as North Koreas belligerent behavior and climate changethe United States should not be held hostage by concerns that a more robust deterrence strategy will thwart bilateral cooperation. PDF Countries South China Sea Overview - Energy Information Administration 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 South China Sea. China, for example, has asserted a maritime claim to a large majority of the South China Sea that is not consistent with international law. In other words, his primary concern is that the rivalry over the South China Sea could derail Beijing's strong strategic focus on the Taiwan issue.25 Academic perspectives on the South China Sea are important and may actually be quite influential. Any temptation to alter U.S. policies in the South China Sea to preserve cooperation with China in other areas is unnecessary and potentially counterproductive. A third of the world's shipping passes through it, its fisheries are critical sources of food for millions of people. China and The Four Views Strategy - Modern Diplomacy 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. An Analysis of the South China Sea Dispute: Focusing on the Assessment Thus, it is said that the South China Sea could be the battleground of World War III. multifaceted fiscal and strategic benefits, acting as a magnet for the regional as well as . 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 . As . The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. South China Sea Dispute - History, Causes & Consequences for UPSC The three core areas that must be defended and secured are the Malay Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak. The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea is an international treaty that sets out importantmaritime rules. or join us on Facebook. Given these advantages, Washington can afford to focus on the long game in Asia, confident that Chinese adventurism is likely to push many states to turn to the United States for support. From a strategic perspective, the geographical significance of the SCS is that whoever has dominance over it, dominates the future of East Asia. As maritime security such as safety and freedom of . 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. The outcome of that contest will profoundly influence, if not shape, the 21st century world. 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. Post-Mao China, with the emergence of Deng Xiaoping as paramount leader, became a major constructive presence dedicated to economic development fueled by opening the Middle Kingdom to the region and the world. LinkedIn and 3rd parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our Services, and to show you relevant ads (including professional and job ads) on and off LinkedIn. 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. . In recent years, U.S. military planners have shifted their focus from counterterrorism, low intensity conflict to great power, high intensity threats. 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. Seventh Fleet transits regularly between the Pacific and Indian Oceans (including the Bay of Bengal). These actions suggest that China might undermine freedom of navigation and overflight, principles of fundamental importance to the United States. 1994 The Convention on the Law of the Sea goes into effect. 1. The end of the Cold War found East Asia and the Western Pacific strategically quiescent. The Tribunal rejects Chinas maritime claims that go beyond the entitlements set out in the Law of the Sea Convention. 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 largest and most powerful of these . 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strategic importance of south china sea