By the end of the 1970s, communist insurgencies outside Indochina had been effectively suppressed. You are approaching Chinese airspace. What evidence is there of increased projection of Maritime Power? If this sounds overstated or overwrought it is not. The most important and least tangible stake in the South China Sea concerns the preservation (or not) of a regional rules-based order supported by U.S. power. 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. 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. What is the Strategic Importance of the South China Sea? More and more, we see a particularly aggressive maritime stance from China towards NATO warships when exercising freedom of navigation through the SCS. The Chinese recently built an island in the South China Sea, apparently as a potential airbase. The Malacca Strait, the South China Sea and the Sino-American Sign up to receive The Evening, a daily brief on the news, events, and people shaping the world of international affairs. The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. Instead, perceptions of weakness may encourage leaders in Beijing to embrace more assertive behavior. Networking Social Entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia: Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) program, The High Price of Neglecting Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy, Environmental Change and Security Program, North Korea International Documentation Project, Nuclear Proliferation International History Project, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, The Middle East and North Africa Workforce Development Initiative, Science and Technology Innovation Program, Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition. The third will assess the policies/strategies currently employed by the United States in this arena as well as other plausible options. Geo-Strategic Importance of the South China Sea 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. South China Sea has strategic significance for world: US, Vietnam China, Asia, and the Changing Strategic Importance of the Gulf and MENA The South China Sea contains some of the world's most important shipping lanes. Many of these countries suffer from corruption and lack for effective rule of law. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. 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. The United States has an interest in seeing that these partners maintain their strategic autonomy, but capacity building efforts to help them resist coercion are not keeping pace with Chinas growing capabilities. US still mired in a 'Cold War' mindset, but the tide's turning, The West is misreading Chinas Party Congress at the peril of world stability, Can Foreign Investors still have Good Reasons to be Optimistic about China? Utapao has been suggested as a permanent Southeast Asian Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) hub. Even if Beijings island-building campaign succeeds in turning the South China Sea into a Chinese lake, it will be one in which Chinese forces are constantly monitored and from which they can only depart with implicit American acquiescence. 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 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. The reaction of the Chinese Foreign Minister was incendiary and revealing. In sum, the United States has built and maintained a dense network of security links and obligations throughout East and Southeast Asia all sustained by regular contact with the Seventh Fleet as it transits the region via the South China Sea. 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. Chinese warplane intercepts US Navy plane over South China Sea In short, adopting a more robust deterrence approach need not prevent cooperation that is in the interests of both countries. U.S. responses to Chinas South China Sea activities have been insufficient to alter Chinas behavior and have fed the narrative that China is pushing the United States out of the region. . 2009 China issues two diplomatic notes that appear to claim a majority of the South China Sea. China's Art of Strategic Incrementalism in the South China Sea Sun Tzu Explains China's Shaping Operations in the South China Sea 2014 The United States and the Philippines sign an enhanced defense pact, strengthening the U.S.-Filipino relationship. South China Sea: What's China's plan for its 'Great Wall of Sand'? 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. Guidelines for a South China Sea Strategy. Chinese missiles on the mainland already hold all U.S. Asian bases at risk. Accordingly, Malaysia's note verbale serves as the strongest stance of Malaysia on the SCS in recent times and aligns itself with the top priority of its DWP. through South China Sea Port is 1400 kms long. the South China Sea that would be " - S " ["permitting a leaf to obscure one's view of the mountain"]. 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. A third of the world's shipping passes through it, its fisheries are critical sources of food for millions of people. In practice, Thailand may be neutral in the regions great power fissures into the next decade. 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. 1994 The Convention on the Law of the Sea goes into effect. More than half of the worlds fishing vessels are in the South China Sea, and millions of people depend on these waters for their food and livelihoods. The islands are important, however, for strategic and political reasons. In addition to far flung island territories (formerly occupied by Japan) in the South Pacific, the United States had a substantial military garrison in Japan and close ties with South Korea and the Philippines a former colony. (PDF) The South China Sea issue in U.S. - Vietnam relations under In 1995, the Philippines discovered that China had occupied and militarized an atoll (Mischief Reef) well within the Philippines EEZ and within maritime territory claimed by Manila. The same cannot be said for China and a maritime Southeast Asia that aligns with the United States. 1) Islands are much more strategically valuable. 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. NEW DELHI (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan urged China and the US to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South . 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 China - Solomon Islands security agreement and the competition in the South China Sea. Countries across the region prioritized economic growth and modernization. China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea - Real Instituto China's strategic reach into the South China Sea has obvious and profound implications for three sets of international actors: (1) the littoral Southeast Asian states (Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines); (2) major maritime countries heavily dependent on the sea lanes through the South China Sea (including Japan, Korea, and 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 . "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 . China perceives Vietnam as an obstacle for acquiring its control over this strategic sea. In addition to fishing grounds, the South China Sea contains an abundance of energy resources, . China is working hard to bring under its control the water, islands, rocks and reefs that sit within its imaginary nine-dash line. The Thai people are lurching towards a new political arrangement, a process that Thais have to see through for themselves. 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. It was the first time that had ever occurred. Geo-Strategic Significance And Importance Of South China Sea For China 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. In particular Chinas maritime law enforcement in the disputed islands and waters has disrupted regional stability; causing tensions between Vietnam after a clash between Chinese patrol boats and Vietnamese oil exploration vessels. Rival countries have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries, but tension has steadily increased in recent years. director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative at Peking . U.S. leaders should not be afraid of tension in the U.S.-China relationship. 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 sum, the South China Sea is the immediate arena where two alternative geopolitical paradigms are contesting for supremacy. First, the United States should feel more confident to pressure the junta on human rights concerns. 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. Why the Arctic is Not the 'Next' South China Sea The Balloon Incident and Evolution of Espionage. The second will analyze the strategic landscape in and around the South China Sea. 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. To that end, the region is . The United States can do more to leverage its alliances in Asia to raise the costs of Chinese efforts to undermine the regional order. Security, Strategy, and Military Dynamics in South China Sea: Cross-National Perspectives on JSTOR. Figure 4 shows the overlapping sovereignty claims in the SCS, with Chinas claims according to the 9 dash line doctrine in red. China is already providing indications of how it might act when it controls the South China Sea. PDF The Strategic Importance of South China Sea - World Geostrategic Insights Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. Unfortunately, some countries fail to comply with the existing international law. 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. These actions suggest that China might undermine freedom of navigation and overflight, principles of fundamental importance to the United States. Other claimant states welcome U.S. involvement precisely because Washington does not favor one claimants territorial ambitions over those of the others. Examining Malaysia's Evolving Policy toward the South China Sea It is growing more difficult to discuss Southeast Asia without discussing Japan, India and Australia, whose ties to the region and to each other are maturing and whose militarieswhether represented by personnel, aircraft, or warshipsare increasingly present in the region. 2023 Center for Strategic & International Studies. China and Philippines agree to 'manage differences' on South China Sea Hanoi and Canberra have launched a number of security dialogues and are expanding personnel exchanges, ship visits and officer training. 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. When it comes to trade, investment and infrastructure development, China should not be the only game in town. The strategically important South China Sea is an increasingly prominent stage for the spiraling tensions . There were, however, cautionary signs for those prepared to see them. 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. Such access would complement the renewed U.S. presence in the Philippines; facilitate a regular American presence in the western part of the South China Sea; enable the United States to more easily defendor seal upthe Malacca Strait; and, it should be noted, put American forces within striking distance of major Chinese bases on Hainan, including port facilities that host Chinas ballistic missile submarines. 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. The largest and most powerful of these . China has constructed more than 3,000 acres of artificial islands, and although this is not illegal, it is an intimidating display of wealth and power. Ownership claims to them are used to bolster claims to the surrounding sea and its resources. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea Despite all that, Beijing now faces a competition with Washington (and Delhi and Tokyo) for influence in Naypyidaw. 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. South China Sea or even some part of its strategically significant zones will provide the sovereign nation state significant seat in global trade agreements. The credibility of U.S. security support for allies and partners will be shredded. The United States calls this treaty the Law of the Sea Convention.. The sea-lanes that pass through the South China Sea are the busiest, most important, maritime waterways in the world. in the northeast, the South China Sea is one of the most important trade routes in the world. Even then, the countrys division between royalists and red-shirts will likely endure. China sought access to natural resources, to political influence and to a strategic maritime position in the Bay of Bengal. 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