strategic importance of south china sea strategic importance of south china sea

Most of China's global trade is seaborne. The United States now has the opportunity to secure for another generation the peace that has held in Asia for nearly four decades now. South China Sea: What's China's plan for its 'Great Wall of Sand'? Seventh Fleet transits regularly between the Pacific and Indian Oceans (including the Bay of Bengal). by Geoffrey Hartman 1994 The Convention on the Law of the Sea goes into effect. Shortly after the ARF concluded, an official spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry asserted Chinas indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea. Cooperation on areas of shared interest is important not only to the United States, but also to China. Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Thursday, Bonji Ohara, a senior fellow at the Tokyo-based Sasakawa Peace Foundation, said the marginal sea is key to China's security. The United States has leverage over China in areas not directly related to South China Sea and may have to consider using or threatening to use these tools to stabilize the regional order. 2023 Center for Strategic & International Studies. 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. In recent years, Chinas inventive engineering feats have allowed it to create more than 3,200 acres of new land in the South China Sea. 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. 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. South China Sea: Why is it strategically important? - Clear IAS India will lose its current freedom of access into the South China Sea and much of Southeast Asia. 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. 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. 1. Finally, the United States should prioritize governance issues in its relations with Southeast Asian states. 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. PDF Beyond Territorial Disputes In The South China Sea Legal Frameworks For The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. 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. 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. multifaceted fiscal and strategic benefits, acting as a magnet for the regional as well as . Washington, DC 20036. The strategic signal of an Indian presence in the South China Sea 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. "American aircraft, this is the PLA air force. 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. In practice, Thailand may be neutral in the regions great power fissures into the next decade. Vietnam's strategic interests in the South China Sea: Challenges and This puts more pressure on Washington to intervene and U.S. allies and partners in Asia are watching carefully and drawing conclusions about U.S. commitment and staying power in the region. These women are creating climate solutions, One year later: Democracy stands in Ukraine. Australia and Vietnam established a Comprehensive Partnership in 2009 and agreed to expand it in 2015. Why does China care so much about the South China Sea? Here are 5 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. Currently, President Xi Jinping makes frequent references to Chinas possession of the South China Sea since ancient times an assertion that lacks any validity historically or legally. 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. Islands in the South China Sea The islands of the South China Sea can be grouped into two island chains. The United States can stand firm on its principles and deter China from undermining the regional order while maintaining a productive relationship. Ownership claims to them are used to bolster claims to the surrounding sea and its resources. Russia-Ukraine War Compels Japan to Reassess China Challenge, Shift It is the geostrategic importance that is usually the main reason for the parties to strengthen their claim over the Spratlys and the Paracels. By the end of the 1970s, communist insurgencies outside Indochina had been effectively suppressed. Chinese warplane intercepts US Navy plane over South China Sea That redundancy will grant the United States flexibility in a couple of ways. The main route to and from Pacific and Indian ocean ports is through the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. 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. Thailand, of course, has been an important security partner for the United States. The United States and its Pacific allies should consider whether it is feasible and sensible to coordinate the activities of USAID, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The islands are important, however, for strategic and political reasons. PDF The Strategic Importance of South China Sea - World Geostrategic Insights Then again, China may see its efforts in the South China Sea blunted. Thats why the United States has urged countries to resolve maritime claim disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law. Due to the strategic importance of the area, China will continue to establish a maritime power in the SCS as the most dominant player among states in the region. 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. 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. Tackling these issues will be tricky for the United States, as many of the elites that benefit from corruption will be those with whom Washington must work to deepen ties, but this is a long-term effort worth pursuing. Pexels India-China Indo-Pacific South China Sea Signalling is important international relations. Vietnam already flies modern Russian fighter jets and is expecting delivery this year of its sixth and final Kilo-class submarinesubmarines so quiet that the U.S. Navy refers to them as black holes. If the Chinese Navy wants to have its way in the South China Sea, it will have to dedicate resources to tracking those subs, a task with which the PLAN has limited experience. China's New Pressure on Taiwan in the South China Sea The United States can, if necessary, accept a continental Southeast Asia that leans China without major concern for Americas primary interests. 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. China has become increasingly assertive in the region, and regional powers from Japan to Singapore have become alarmed at China's behavior. 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 From a strategic perspective, the geographical significance of the SCS is that whoever has dominance over it, dominates the future of East Asia. It is unlikely that any states in the region possess the wealth and power to oppose this, although there is always a realistic possibility that they may receive backing from the USA if it is in their interests. Despite all that, Beijing now faces a competition with Washington (and Delhi and Tokyo) for influence in Naypyidaw. Here's why the South China Sea is highly contested - CNBC With the National League for Democracy now in power in Naypyidaw, China cannot rely on Burma as an automatic ally. 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. However, there were a number of reasons to conclude that the line was no cartographic anomaly; it was an official indication of Beijings contention that the sovereign territory of China included the South China Sea. Vivian Balakrishnan urges US and China to de-escalate tensions in The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. If full democratization is her goal, there is no foreign partner more important than Washington for achieving it. The United States can do more to leverage its alliances in Asia to raise the costs of Chinese efforts to undermine the regional order. Chinese Military Expansionism in the South China Sea 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 . Media Relations Manager, External Relations. Check out the linked article on the Belt and road initiative now. By contrast, China views. 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. China is already providing indications of how it might act when it controls the South China Sea. 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. 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. 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. The global focus of economic power has traditionally been centred over the west with the UK and the USA as the key contributors; however in recent years, this has shifted east (see Figure 1), with the main reason for this being rapid urbanization in developing countries, in particular China. The South China Sea is a core interest of both Vietnam and China. 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. 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. 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 . This article aims to highlight security dynamics of the US-China competition in the Indo-Pacific associated with the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea through the prism of Balance of Threat Th. If this sounds overstated or overwrought it is not. 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. 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. India is training crews for Vietnams new Kilo-class submarines and will sell Vietnam BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. China has seized the initiative in the South China Sea, however, and the United States needs to revamp its strategy to reverse current trends and escape the trap of reactive and ineffectual policymaking. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea. Anil Trigunayat, 5th Generation Warfare: A Real Global Warming (Alarming) and its Implications for Pakistan, The Geopolitics of Indo-Pacific: the Rise of India and the Possible Challenges for Pakistan, 75 Years of Pakistan's Independence: Audit of Achievements and Failures, Bacterial Attack on Azerbaijani Oil a fictitious scenario, Pakistan, from the Shackles of Oligarchy to the Emergence of Democracy, Impact of Climate Change on Flood-Stricken People in Balochistan, Dimensions of Religion: Use, Misuse and Beyond, Breaking Free from Fossil Fuels: Why Nuclear Energy is Significant for Pakistan, Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education and Scientific Research: an interview with Fatima Roumate, Dalits, the Bottom of Indias Caste Ladder. access to Thailands military facilities, particularly the strategically located and well-equipped Utapao airbase, is considered invaluable. China has shown the most considerable increase in projection of power from all the states surrounding the SCS. China's Art of Strategic Incrementalism in the South China Sea The South China Sea, or South East Asian Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean.It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands . 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). Australia will be isolated with an uncertain future. The South China Sea is considered a "near sea" and its geographic proximity to the mainland is central to the China's strategic imagination and threat perception. This button displays the currently selected search type. In the contemporary era, Taiwan remains geographically at the intersection of most of East Asia's danger points. Geopolitical platform, analysis of political, military, security, economic, social events with international and geopolitics relevance. 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 post-war regional order. 2016 The Arbitration Tribunal rules in favor of the Philippines. From the report. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. China and the South China Sea | Wilson Center The strategic landscape of the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia in the early 1990s was remarkably benign with optimism in full flower. . 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. In recent years, U.S. military planners have shifted their focus from counterterrorism, low intensity conflict to great power, high intensity threats. The South China Sea is a strategic body of water bordering Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and China. 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. 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. China, however, must now balance its continental concerns, which remain complex, against its new dependence on the maritime domain. With Burma internationally isolated for much of the past three decades, Beijing invested heavily in that countrys leadership. 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. It remains entirely plausible that any Chinese strategy could have a long term goal of possessing the power to deny US or western warships access to the SCS, with China largely laying claim to most of the area as it's own waters. South China Sea is a strategic sea lane is significance for connectivity, navigation, trade and resources is a global hotspot as a potential flashpoint. What is the strategic importance of the South China Sea. China's Maritime Choke Points - Geopolitical Futures Importantly, the countries of maritime Southeast Asia are not aligning only with the United States, but with a grouping of external states concerned with the nature of Chinas rise. April 26, 2016 There is widespread interest in the rising tensions over the waters east of China. South China Sea - Wikipedia China has steadily built capabilities and infrastructure, most notably military facilities on artificial islands, that enable greater control of the South China Sea. The SCS is passage of half of the world trade. Chinese missiles on the mainland already hold all U.S. Asian bases at risk. Now, the two militaries will increasingly exercise and train across a broad spectrum of military operations, from the low end to the high. What countries are claiming sovereignty, and to what extent is this disrupting regional stability? 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 reaction of the Chinese Foreign Minister was incendiary and revealing. Sign up to receive ShareAmerica updates. 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. 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. 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. The annual Cobra Gold exercise is Asias largest multilateral military exercise. The three core areas that must be defended and secured are the Malay Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak. 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. In such a complex environment, it is important to have well-established, recognizable rules of international law. Why the Arctic is Not the 'Next' South China Sea We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.