The Conflict Of The South China Sea Threatens Us China Relations

Since 1899, America has maintained an open door policy with China. Throughout the years, relations between the United States and China have changed with several effects on both countries caused by the open door policy.

in the region. America’s presence in Guam and the Philippines and its support of China posed

Following the War of 1812, the United States established itself as a world power and proved its capability to protect needy nations. After the French Revolution, nations realized the importance of balancing power and recognized the dangerousness of one nation holding excessive power. (Stanley Chodorow, MacGregor Knox, Conrad Schirokauer, Joseph Strayer, Hans Gatzke 1969) For years, America held the policy of isolationism and only intervened in other countries’ affairs if necessary. Despite strained relations in the past, diplomatic relations with China began in 1979. (Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia University 2009) Last year, an American battleship entered the South China Sea, inspecting Chinese activities. As an ally and nation known to keep the

When it comes to the political profile, seven different countries have competing maritime claims (mostly over the Spratly and Paracel Islands), some of which become even more complicated as some overlap with other nations’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). Despite the “intraregional distrust, deeply rooted historical issues, and rapidly increasing military spending” in the region surrounding the South China Sea, one expert argues that “not only has the conflict not escalated into a serious military conflict; it has, in fact, been mitigated… in fact, a more stable peace has developed.” (Costlow, 2012, p.6).

(Marshall np.) Multiple countries are in contest over the Sea such as, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. With so many countries stating their claims, China has come out with statements referring to the creation of a “nine-dash line” back in the late 1940’s. They have stated this line as a historical claim that gives China the right over the sea as well as the islands and resources within its area. (Marshall np.) Their actions are said to be bypassing international laws. After citing historical claims, they further stated that, “‘The Chinese government passed legislation in 1992 laying claim to four-fifths of the sea’” (Marshall np.) With concern of this growing Chinese presence in such a strategic region, the countries who have claims in this region alongside the U.S. have amped up military presence in the body of water. Obama’s first course of action was to implement a pivot of naval assets into the waterway. The question that is now posed is, was Obama tough enough on the Chinese way to passive. As China grows to compete with the U.S. as a superpower did Obama take the right courses of action to limit this Chinese growth. Obama’s Failure was that he couldn’t stop Chinese expansion which has left china in a stronger position with in the area that the surrounding countries are having to act into their own

In this article, “How to Deter China, The Case for Archipelagic Defense”, Andrew Krepinevich, includes various examples of China’s trait of bullying and how others, who are victim, may not be able to compete in the same way with other governments. He includes strategies that the United States may or may not be able to implement in order to aid in Asian peace. We are given information regarding our country’s planned action to address this issue. He gives examples of how China’s bullying and repression on other countries that are located within China’s reach occur. For example, Krepinevich writes, “China moved an oil rig into Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, clashing with Vietnamese fishing boats”. These actions would never lead to peace between Vietnam and China, however, it only proves who is the most powerful of the two. It is true that China is a world power that is very advanced and able to do the majority of what it wants, but this does not justify actions that cause problems among others. He brings up “Archipelagic Defense”, and this is just a country’s ability to stand firm and defend themselves with these issues. He explains how several countries like Vietnam and Japan in particular, are willing to put forth the efforts necessary for archipelagic defense. This defense is needed in responding to this

“Rising nationalist sentiments and growing political mistrust heighten the potential for conflict and hinders the capacity for peaceful resolution of the dispute. Though Chinese and Japanese leaders have refrained from forcibly establishing control over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, unauthorized action by local commanders could result in the unintended escalation of hostilities. Through treaty commitments with Japan, a military confrontation could involve the United States. To preserve relations with China and continue cooperation on various issues, the United States has an interest in de-escalating tensions.”

The writer believes the United States should act urgently against China due to recent and past events. The only U.S. action mentioned was to cancel China’s invitation to the Rim-of-the-Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercise. The writer went on to identify reasons why he thinks this cancellation should happen as soon as possible. He cites the near collision of aircrafts from the two nations and the seven new artificial islands built by China, regardless of U.S. opposition, as points to support his position. He offered a different perspective by pointing out U.S. warships and aircrafts are still able to operate in the South China Sea in spite of China’s ill intent. I am unconvinced the writer sufficiently supported his claim and call to action. The lack of substantial, logical evidence in support of his position and the presence of a logical fallacy, allowed for a great deal of guessing and speculation as to the true intent of the article.

As of today, China has expanded and built over seven artificial islands in the South China Sea since 2014. The South China Sea has recently come to be a major problem in Asia as issues have risen over who has rights of passage and claims in this area. The Chinese of recent have been making territorial claims in the South China Sea that are in areas of free passage for many other Asian countries and the United States. In October 2015, a U.S. guided missile destroyer encountered one of the artificial islands and China’s response was that it would “take any measure” to maintain its security in “their territory”. The Chinese have been questioned in the Permanent Court of Arbitration by the Philippines after claiming rights to historical locations in the South China Sea, which violates sovereign rights of the Philippines, yet China responded to this outcome with refusal and has continued to advance itself in the territory causing huge disputes with its neighboring countries as freedom of navigation has been compromised through China’s actions.. In order to guarantee resolution and maintain the freedom of navigation aspect of international law there needs to be a foreign policy put in place that puts more United States military in the South China Sea with support from disputing countries like Japan and the Philippines as a way to make the issue multilateral and law abiding.

The relations between China and the United States have considerably evolved since the end of the two Wars, and especially since 1978, when Deng Xiaoping gained a de facto leading position in China, taking the country out of isolation and introducing it to modernity and globalization. Since then, China and the United States have undergone through periods of antagonism and collaboration. After a long era in which the US dominated the international system as a hegemonic power, China started to rise and to gain more and more importance and influence, especially in the global economy. According to the International Monetary Fund, the US is still the country with the highest level of GDP, followed by the European Union and China. However, the facts that China is as the second largest economy in the world, as the World Bank’s estimation demonstrates, and that it is the main actor in East Asia, are all sources of alarm for the US, which assists to its hegemony being compromised by China’s rise. In particular, the US is very much engaged in trying to prevent and delay the ascendance of the Chinese power in the international system, which has seen China getting involved in new global challenges – climate change, international security, protection of human rights, etc. – and has caused the emergence of new issues such as the South China Sea dispute or the contrast between the TPP and OBOR initiative, as well as cooperative agreements between the two super powers, such as the expansion

In July 2013, Wenweipo - the pro-PRC Chinese-language newspaper published an article titled “Six Wars China is sure to fight in the next 50 years”. According to this article, after unification of Taiwan (year 2020 to 2025), China will take the second war: Reconquest of Spratly Islands (year 2025 to 2030) and “China will send the ultimatum to countries surrounding the Islands with the deadline of 2028. The countries having disputes on the sovereignty of Islands can negotiate with China on preserving their shares of investments in these Islands by giving up”. In 1999, two Chinese military colonels – authors of the book namely “Unlimited War” suggested using an “unlimited war” to solve the disputing in the South China Sea. These authors said that, to avoid a war does not mean that not using military force and a conflict is indispensable. However, there is one more important thing that to control the intensities of conflict that. It is necessary to conduct some special activities to prove the sovereignty of China in the disputing Spratly Islands but do not let this activities increase to the total war. These things prove that the potential war between Vietnam and China in the future could be come true.

The dispute over the South China Sea denotes the process of power rebalancing while China rising as a hegemony in East Asia. China craves for more resources and power and decides to effectuate that by controlling more maritime territory. This act impelled the United State to align with the Philippines to balance with China. In a realism world, U.S. has adequate reason to intervene for fear for China becoming too strong a power.

The territorial and maritime disputes over the South China Sea (SCS) have been ongoing for decades. The disputes have been considered to be one the fiercest-contested in Asia. The South China Sea is an enclosed sea surrounded by several different states. China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, and Malaysia all surrounded the South China Sea. The main cause of tension in this dispute is because China claims to have “historical sovereignty” over all of the South China Sea. Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have come up with different discussions and suggestions on how to end the disputes with favorable conditions for all contending states. They use the principles of the United Nation Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and form the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). The states surrounding the South China Sea possess 12 nautical miles territorial sea and 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zones (EEZs). Thus, the South China Sea is not only international waters, instead, it is also overlapping exclusive economic zones. According to UNCLOS, disputes over exclusive economic zones must be resolved through negotiations by the contending states. Many of these contending Southeast Asian states have negotiated their maritime boundaries, however, China fails to comply. China claims that it owns all of the South China Sea, and therefore, has no need to

Nowadays, the conflict of territory solving in the world causes many complicated problems among countries, as well as tensions in foreign policies. One of these conflicts is the dispute in South China Sea between China and six neighbor ASEAN countries. With the intervention of the United States, the issue turns to be more serious as it attracts a lot of concerns from international community. This research tries to find a clear way of understanding the South China Sea conflict, specifically about the effort of China and Vietnam to gain the control over the two groups of islands: Paracel and Spratly. The hypothesis intends to express the possibility about Vietnam’s victory in this conflict with the help of the United States.

In the Western Pacific, the South China Sea is a global crossroads that holds strategic importance for many nations world wide. The South China Sea stretches from the Taiwan and Luzon Straits in the north to Indonesia and the Strait of Malacca in the south with Vietnam on the west and the Philippines and Borneo on the east. In total size, the South China Sea surpasses the Mediterranean Sea. However, unlike this Near-Eastern comparator, territorial disputes and conflicting claims threaten the movement of global trade through the South China Sea, thus unbalancing regional stability in the Asia-Pacific. Claimants include the bordering coastal countries of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (a.k.a. Taiwan), the