Ibne Siraj :
Of late, the United States pretending concerned has come up with a silent threat to China saying, Beijing has been adopting a policy of “provocative” and “dramatic” tactics in the South China Sea. Hence, it said, the American navy will shift 60 per cent of its maritime assets to the Pacific by 2020. However, the US underlined that the “rebalance” to the Asia and Pacific was not aimed at China but for its own economic growth. Referring to China’s ongoing territorial dispute with countries like Brunei, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam over the South China Sea, a top Pentagon official termed it as provocative. “And it causes tensions to be raised in the South China Sea with all the other countries in the region. I am concerned about it. I think it is an issue of concern for all of us,” Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Harry Harris, told a group of journalists in New Delhi recently.
Harris, the highest-ranking Asian-American in the history of the US Navy and the first to attain the rank of 4-star Admiral, said it “behooves” all countries concerned about freedom of navigation to pay attention to what China was doing in the South China Sea. “It is dramatic. It is dramatic land reclamation. It is changing facts on the ground,” he said. Harris’ visit to India comes just weeks after President Barack Obama said the US was “primed to unlock” the potential of relations with India as part of its rebalance to Asia and the Pacific. He said that as part of the US rebalance, the Pacific fleet was going to get bigger. “Right now, our goal is to have 60 per cent of the US Navy assigned to the Pacific fleet by 2020,” he said, adding in a lighter vein that his area of responsibility extends from Hollywood to Bollywood and polar bears to penguins.
According to Harris, the US’ submarine forces in the Pacific are at 60 percent and surface vessel or ships at about 55 percent. “We will get extra ships. We are sending two extra ships to Japan. We are getting four submarines into Guam. We are going to bring an aircraft carrier around. US navy presence is going to increase over the course of this decade,” he said. Asked if this rebalance was aimed at a particular country, he said it is an American strategy that is not focused on any one country. “It is not about China. It is really about us. It is about recognizing that our economic future lies in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean,” he said. But even as he expressed concern about China’s tactics in the South China Sea, he was quick to describe the presence of Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean as “positive” since they are engaged in anti-piracy operations.
Without much delay, China has also through its state media come up with almost the same words with same gravity criticizing the United States as “kibitzer” for what it called meddling in the South China Sea issue. A commentary published in English by the official Xinhua news agency was headlined “America the Kibitzer”, which refers to an onlooker who gives unwanted advice, in this case regarding the South China Sea. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a position that conflicts with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as with Taiwan. US officials have called for a multilateral agreement to end all actions that risk further inflaming tensions in the region, which includes US allies. “Uncle Sam has long been in the grip of many addictions, such as muscle-flexing, preaching and borrowing, but there has turned out to be one more: kibitzing,” the commentary said.
In the backdrop of growing Chinese influence in South China Sea, India and the ASEAN countries met in New Delhi early March, 2015 and discussed the evolving security architecture in the region, including in maritime and cyber space. India always maintains that there should be a freedom of navigation in the high seas and the territorial dispute in the South China Sea should be resolved through dialogue. The territorial disputes in South China Sea involve both island and maritime claims among several countries within the region including China, Vietnam and Philippines. As India is, somewhat, worried, it has voiced concern over growing Chinese military presence in the India Ocean. The US pivot to Asia, involving renewed diplomatic activity and military redeployment, could signal Washington’s heightened role in the disputes, which, if not managed wisely, could turn part of Asia’s maritime regions from thriving trade channels into arenas of conflict.
Six countries lay overlapping claims to the East and South China Seas, an area that is rich in hydrocarbons and natural gas and through which trillions of dollars of global trade flow. As it seeks to expand its maritime presence, China has been met by growing assertiveness from regional claimants like Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The increasingly frequent standoffs span from the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands on China’s eastern flank to the long stretch of archipelagos in the South China Sea that comprise hundreds of islets. The fight over overlapping exclusive economic zones in the South China Sea has an equally complex chronology of events steeped in the turmoil of Southeast Asian history. Globalization, including extensive free trade pacts between claimants, and recent developments like the US “pivot” to Asia has further connected the two disputes.
As China’s economic ascent facilitates growing military capabilities and assertiveness in both seas, other regional players are also experiencing their own rise in nationalism and military capability, and have exhibited greater willingness to stake territorial claims. China is building artificial islands to exert military influence in the South China Sea. Could this bring military conflict back to a long-peaceful region? According to observers, these features could allow China to extend the range of its navy, air force, coastguard and fishing fleets into the disputed areas. In response, the US and the Philippines announced they would further strengthen their alliance to increase military powers. The Philippines have already given the US military access to bases on the Philippines soils, two decades after closing of the last American bases there. The news about Chinese building projects and the possible military consequences seems clear that the reinforcements are yet another move in a long, steady game of escalation between the US and China.
The disputed maritime area may not be worth the risks. The natural and artificial features in the disputed areas of the South China Sea are generally too small and too far away from the mainland to sustain life, and many of the oil and gas fields in the disputed areas could also be drained from areas that are not disputed, avoiding conflict at least for the time being. But there are reasons to believe that this escalation of military tension could still be very dangerous. The buffers that have prevented wars in South-East Asia and North-East Asia, such as strong norms of sovereignty, seem weaker in the disputed maritime areas, and worries are growing that a military build up could surge out of control. During the period after the World War II, East Asia saw more conflict fatalities than any region in the world, and it was host to the postwar era’s three deadliest military conflicts: the Vietnam War, the Korean War and the Chinese Civil War. But since the 1970s, things have changed dramatically, and in terms of battle-related fatalities, East Asia has been more peaceful than Europe, the Americas or any other area in the world.
