The Dispute Between China And The Philippines Essay

In the recent years, there is a conflict of territory between countries that caught the global attention. It’s about the ownership of several small islands in the South China Sea. Six primary countries are competing for its ownership. Each of them claimed the right to have these islands. The territory conflict supposed to engage only the competitors. However, at this time the whole world is

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cold War was over, making the U.S. the only superpower left in the world. This has made the international system much more tranquil, and relaxed. The only country potentially powerful besides the U.S., is China. Many Americans fear China, not only because they are communist, but also because of their huge population. Their population is 1.3 billion people, which accounts 1/5th of the world’s population. As one of the only potential superpowers in the world, it would be in the best interest of all Americans if the U.S. and China became allies, instead of enemies. Peace and development, economic prosperity and social progress, are goals that both of

The main point of the article is that the ongoing conflict in the South China Sea threatens US-China relations and, if not resolved, will lead to instability in the region. The author’s solution to this is that leaders of both countries work together to achieve a better understanding of the concerns coming from both sides, as well as lay out consequences for certain actions and to commit themselves to avoiding further escalation. This is tricky because neither country wants to look like it is giving in to the other, but at the same time some concessions must be made. Recently, China announced they would be shifting away from the dredging of land towards the construction of military bases and other facilities for civilian use. “China unilaterally started the land reclamation and now China is unilaterally stopping it…China is showing that—as a major power—it can control escalation, that it has the initiative, and that it can do what it sees fit for its interests.” This is a way for them to de-escalate the tension with the US while reassuring their citizens that they did not bow to American military pressure. A Chinese official stated that the reclamation efforts were necessary because China was feeling insecure about enhanced US defense cooperation with other nations such as the Philippines . Allowing Japan to go on joint patrol of the South China Sea has also aggravated China. The article makes a good point that Japan has no territorial claims to the region, and its security

China's neighbors complained about the islands, too. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all dispute sovereignty of several island chains and nearby waters in the South China Sea.

China would set up defense toward illegal actions of the foreign fishermen. One of the fish man said to the author, “One minute you will see an airplane, then there is naval boat. If we keep going over there, maybe we won’t be able to go home to see our family. It is just not the Philippine, but Vietnamese are forbidden to the sea as well (Bale 2016).” The attacking of the civilian is one of the main causes of the tension. To make the case worse, there is conflict when a country tries to defense its own territory. The article mentioned, “Indonesian maritime law enforcement officials arrested eight Chinese on charges of illegal fishing. The fishermen were less than three miles near the water from Indonesia’s Natuna Island. Under international law, the land belongs to Indonesian, but they are partially overlap with China’s U-shaped line claims. So, the China says it has the right to fish there (Bale 2016).” There is always conflict when international law and country’s law comes head to head, because no country is willing to give up their own property. China refuse to participate in any solution which has stretched out the tension more. As previously mentioned, the Philippines brought this case to the in Permanent Court of Arbitration but China chose to continue to ignore the decision of the Court. United States is an ally of the Philippines. There will be billions of deaths if a war between United States and China breaks

In deciding on which course of action would be the most appropriate in resolving the Taiwan-China conflict, it would be necessary to understand the conflict and the attempts made to resolve such conflict to have a proper perspective on the issue. It would also help to analyze why the previous techniques were not successful before adopting any policy recommendation to resolve the conflict.

China’s recent assertions of military power in the South China Sea is a serious threat to U.S. National Security, and will remain so if China is not confronted or restricted. In recent years, China has increased military spending, weapons, and is now building artificial islands on highly disputed territory in the South China Sea to expand territorial claims. Since the world is anarchic, conflict is always a possibility between States that the U.S. must be aware of and prepared for. In regard to U.S.-China relations, the United States goal should be to protect the freedom of navigation, prevent any further expansion China makes on disputed territory in the South China Sea, and to hold China under high surveillance observation. To accomplish the previously stated goals, the U.S. should respond to China’s recent assertions of naval and air power in the South China Sea through the military initiatives of surveillance and power projection by deploying more ships to the South China Sea to protect Asian allies and any trade traveling through the international water.

The current situation in the East South China Sea is of great importance to the United States’ strategic and economic interests in the region. The destabilization of the region will have adverse effects around the world and could lead to a major military conflict between many nations. The nation of China has been expanding their territorial lines farther and farther into the South China Sea and it has led to Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippians expand theirs as well, these expanding territorial lines and large military presents of China and the United States have created a fear of conflict. These expansions are due to natural rich resources the waters have to offer and the greater strategic advantage that

Thus, the area holds significant economic importance for Asia and the Pacific which is at risk with mounting tensions and aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea. “Additionally, in regards to the legitimacy of the conflict, The Permanent Court of Arbitration, which serves as a arbitral tribunal to solve disputes in the international community in accordance with the UN and international law, ruled China’s “nine-dash line” claims in the South China Sea, its occupation of Mischief Reef, its denial of access to Scarborough Shoal, its island building in the Spratly’s, and its harassment of others in the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as illegitimate actions.” (Vuyling) Thus, the legality of China’s expansion and claims to the territory furthers the problem to entail U.S to intervene as under the U.S. Freedom of the Seas Program such actions goes against international law and disrupt free naval activities in the area.

In the article, China’s Dangerous Game published by the Atlantic in November of 2014, is a discussion of the Chinese state’s actions within the South China Sea. It summarizes the legality of their claims to the territory, the legality of their military occupation of what is considered to be international territory, and the possible legal and political repercussions of their actions. China has historical ties to the region, which it uses to justify its claim on the disputed territory, however it is believed that there are ulterior motives for China to claim this territory at this point in time. China is seeking to establish themselves as a world power, has a booming economy, and is expanding its military capabilities as to better exert their

The United States also play a significant role in the dispute because they are defending the Philippines’ borders because their own economic ties with the state. Because the South China Sea also contains rich fishing grounds and is reported to hold significant reserves of undiscovered oil and gas, the issue also involves each states economic agenda. The conflict in the region has become more critical within international debate because China recently (May 2014) began drilling too close to the Vietnamese coast (120 nautical miles) which is a direct breach of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a 200 nautical mile area that extends from the baseline of the coastal nation that gives the nation (Vietnam in this context) sole natural resource exploitation rights within the zone. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was concluded in 1982 entails such guidelines for states and establishes a series of legal measures and laws on the economic rights of nations based on their territorial waters and continental baselines . In December 2015, China rejected a UN’s tribunal arbitration with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei stating, ‘China’s territorial sovereignty should be decided by all the Chinese

THE South China Sea conundrum has risen to the pinnacle of regional security priorities. It has generated a veritable fountain of government pronouncements, propaganda, and biased analyses. Some of these conflate information with misinformation.

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.

In spite of the fact that China 's engagement into multilateral participation in the South China Sea dispute comes up with compositions on conflict management in this area by various researchers, so far not very many endeavours have been made to clarify the explanations behind China 's changing state of mind towards multilateralism (Desjardins 2014). The current level headed discussions essentially take after three lines of contentions. The three systemic theories incorporated in it are realism, liberalism, and constructivism (Chang 2014). Talking into consideration these three theories, the China 's South China Sea approach from a particular point of view is projected below.

Many Asian countries are flourishing, and the South China Sea has some of the busiest shipping routes crossing it, carrying many exports to and from countries. Recently, the sea has heated arguments dealing with sovereign rights. It formed the focus of territorial ownership debates and some countries’ rights, primary with China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam (Bale). This conflict could cause a much bigger regional conflagration. The countries that are involved struggle to surmount sovereignty issues that cannot simply be quickly resolved legally or quite easily. Not only that, we must keep in mind that the South China Sea serves as one of the important routes for trading with many Asian countries. Many countries believe that the area is rich and abundant in oil reserves and fishing stocks (Glaser 4).