strategic importance of south china sea23 Apr strategic importance of south china sea
With a new Southeast Asian strategic alignment taking shape as described, geography makes Indonesia and Malaysiaespecially due to its Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneothe regions key swing states. It has also been known to give its fishermen military training for years, but recently this has been reported as more assertive with fishermen helping to underwrite and enforce sovereignty claims by occupying territory at sea, carrying out surveillance and harassing other vessels under the guise of civilian fishing boats. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Any such assertion must rest on an understanding that critical U.S. national interests, including both economic and security interests, are at stake and at risk. 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 . When it comes to trade, investment and infrastructure development, China should not be the only game in town. 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. Its strategic economic importance and its geographic location at the confluence of several spheres of influence have rendered it one of the "world's hotspots". It threatens the sovereignty of many nations and endangers the prosperity of the world. China tries to control the waters by using fishing vessels that are part of the Chinese maritime militia, coast guard ships, and naval vessels to harass other countries boats and deny access to this key area. China, however, must now balance its continental concerns, which remain complex, against its new dependence on the maritime domain. the South China Sea that would be " - S " ["permitting a leaf to obscure one's view of the mountain"]. 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. In 2016, they carried fully one-third of global shipping with an estimated value of $3.4 trillion. The strategic importance of the SCS is mainly due to its geographical location, as the area is one of the world's busiest and most strategic shipping lanes. While consistency in U.S. messaging and policy execution is important, it should be balanced by carefully calculated unpredictability in operations and tactics to prevent Beijing from becoming overly confident in its ability to anticipate U.S. reactions. The strategic importance of the SCS is mainly due to its geographical location, as the area is one of the worlds busiest and most strategic shipping lanes. Beijing has also been careful to avoid estranging Aung San Suu Kyi and adopted a largely pragmatic approach to the countrys transition away from authoritarian rule. In 1989 troops from the Peoples Liberation Army entered Tiananmen Square and terminated the student-led democracy demonstrations and hundreds died. Sign up to receive The Evening, a daily brief on the news, events, and people shaping the world of international affairs. Last year, the construction projects covered 72 acres. The United States has several enduring advantages that make regional states continue to seek it out as the security partner of choice, including the worlds best military, high favorability ratings in most local populations, and a less threatening foreign policy than that of China. Persistent American military presence at the eastern, southern and western points of the compassespecially when combined with regional states advancing ISR capabilities, for which the United States is providing investmentwould enable the United States to respond rapidly to incidents in disputed island chains or to Chinese attacks on U.S. and allied naval and air assets or on commercial shipping. From the report. Follow the Asia Program on Twitter @AsiaProgram. The United States should intensify capacity building efforts with allies and partners to improve their ability to resist Chinese coercion. Final Thoughts & Looking Towards the Future. In addition to fishing grounds, the South China Sea contains an abundance of energy resources, . This concept of regional order links tightly to a broader set of interests, values, and institutions embodied in the post-World War II international system a system that reflects U.S. values, U.S. leadership and is consonant with U.S. interests. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. 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. 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. 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. In addition, the United States has affirmed some responsibility for the defense of Taiwan and has close security ties with Singapore and New Zealand. "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 . It was the first time that had ever occurred. The strategically important South China Sea is an increasingly prominent stage for the spiraling tensions . 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. 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 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. There were, however, cautionary signs for those prepared to see them. The main route to and from Pacific and Indian ocean ports is through the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. Current developments in the South China Sea must be understood against the backdrop of recent history. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. Most of China's global trade is seaborne. Hanoi and Canberra have launched a number of security dialogues and are expanding personnel exchanges, ship visits and officer training. The U.S.-Thai relationship has suffered since the 2006 coup that overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra and especially since the latest coup, which saw the military take control in 2014 and stubbornly cling to power. Walter Lohman hasdescribedCobra Gold as an achievement that has proved useful for military missions, such as joint patrols of vital sea lanes, and noncombat missions, such as disaster relief following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in Burma.. In April, Australian Defence Force personnel joined the U.S.-Philippines Balikatan maneuvers, which included an amphibious landing exercise. U.S. policy in the South China Sea has been overly reliant on military options, which may not always be the most effective response. 2014 The United States and the Philippines sign an enhanced defense pact, strengthening the U.S.-Filipino relationship. The new administration should issue clear and consistent strategic messages, since inconsistent articulation of the objectives of the rebalance strategy has caused confusion in China and amongst U.S. allies and partners. U.S. goals to uphold regional alliances and partnerships, defend international rules and norms, and maintain a productive relationship with China remain valid. Sign up to receive ShareAmerica updates. Since the mid-1990s, China has pursued a strategy . Chinas rising military power and political influence is generating anxiety and suspicion among some of its neighbours and western powers. or join us on Facebook. Thus, it is said that the South China Sea could be the battleground of World War III. The United States emerged from World War II as a resident great power in East Asia. It is a rich source of hydrocarbons and natural resources. The United States has been less successful in supporting local partners as they resist Chinese coercion. From a strategic perspective, the geographical significance of the SCS is that whoever has dominance over it, dominates the future of East Asia. Improved governance will lead to stronger economies over the long term and dampen the influence of Chinese dirty money. The South China Sea contains some of the world's most important shipping lanes. African community leaders take home lessons from U.S. China remains uncompromising on sovereignty, has increased its capability to enforce its de facto control in disputed areas, and has sought to advance its claims while staying below the threshold for direct military conflict with the United States. If full democratization is her goal, there is no foreign partner more important than Washington for achieving it. The area includes several hundred small islands, rocks, and reefs, with the majority located in the Paracel and Spratly Island chains. 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. More importantly, it also covers the most crucial energy routes for East Asian countries to transport oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf. The South China Sea is not only economically important for Malaysia as a maritime nation, but it is also as important from the perspective of national security. Chinas island outposts will increase this advantage as Chinese aircraft, ships, and paramilitary vessels will be able to rest and resupply in the southern portion of the South China Sea. According to the U.S. State Department, it has been estimated that China is effectively blocking the development of $2.5 trillion worth of oil and gas resources in the South China Sea. It would also open the option of persistently jamming Chinese radar installations in the Spratlys. Whomever is elected to be the next American president, that person would be wise to have in place a Plan B should the TPP fail to pass the Senate this year (such a Plan B is admittedly unlikely, given that both major candidates would bear responsibility for its failure in the first place). 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). 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. Therefore, the US plays a key role in influencing the resolution of the SCS disputes. But the South China Sea has been dangerously overfished. The new administration should provide authoritative explanations of these operations and not alter their schedule in response to Chinese pressure. What is more important from a strategic viewpoint, however, is that global energy projections that the EIA issues in the International Energy Outlook, issued in October 2021, make it clear that China and Asia will have a sharply growing dependence on MENA and Gulf petroleum exports that may well extend through 2050. 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. More than half of the world's fishing vessels are in the South China Sea, and millions of people depend on these waters for their food and livelihoods. The strategic value of the alliance remains high, according to theCongressional Research Service: *** U.S. Certainly, the ongoing reform process and the opening of relations with the United States amount to a strategic setback for Chinas position in the region. At the economic front, it is estimated that an annual global trade of $5.3 trillion passes through the SCS. China has become increasingly assertive in the region, and regional powers from Japan to Singapore have become alarmed at China's behavior. Marcos Jr. had previously said his country would pursue oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea even without a deal with China, which claims almost all of the 1.3 million square mile South . This access will allow for more frequent, more sustained flights over the South China Sea, including over the disputed Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. The Art of War helps expose the motivation behind past, current, and future Chinese actions. Leung, The Consequences of Conquest: Why Indo-Pacific Power Hinges on Taiwan, United States vs China: from Partnership to Antagonism - Interview with Alfredo Toro Hardy, How the Ukraine War changes Global Geopolitics, What The Economist omits to address in President Xi's vision of a global security order, Armenia: Trapped in Between Interview with Gayane Novikova, How Chinas COVID Policy Reversal Impacts Globally: an interview with Neeraj Singh Manha, Marcos-Xi Durian Diplomacy Climbs to Higher Gear, Is the EU Really Willing to Enlarge in the Western Balkans? 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. the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States." Chinese control of the SCS-and, more generally, Chinese domination of China's near-seas region, meaning the SCS, the East China Sea (ECS), and the Yellow Sea-could substantially aect U.S. strategic, political, and economic interests in the Indo-Pacic region and . Thailand, of course, has been an important security partner for the United States. 1. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea. April 26, 2016 There is widespread interest in the rising tensions over the waters east of China. 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. Seventh Fleet transits regularly between the Pacific and Indian Oceans (including the Bay of Bengal). If China succeeds, in displacing U.S. power in the Western Pacific and Chinese territorial expansion into the South China Sea becomes permanent and codified, global geopolitics will have entered a new and very different era. Narendra Modis Act East policy has resulted in an acceleration of burgeoning India-ASEAN ties and Indias position on the South China Sea territorial disputes essentially mirrors that of the United States. Figure 3 highlights the influenced areas. The area is globally important for a few reasons. To counter Chinas 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. China's actions in the SCSincluding extensive . What is the strategic importance of the South China Sea. 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. Not taking a position on sovereignty allows the United States to flexibly intervene in the South China Sea to defend its interests and international rules and norms, while undercutting Chinese attempts to paint U.S. actions as a threat to Beijings sovereignty. In each of these arenas, a successful Chinese effort to seize control of the South China Sea will have a profound impact and each is worth elaboration. The neighboring South East Asian countries of the highly volatile and busiest waterways of the South China Sea (SCS) have overlapping claims of sovereignty. Unfortunately, the allies now lack a shared strategic outlook, thus reducing the impetus to overcome recent bilateral political hurdles. 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. 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. European access to Asia will be through Beijing. As sovereignty over the SCS involves Chinas economic, energy and national security interests it is highly likely that the increased projection of maritime power will continue. The three core areas that must be defended and secured are the Malay Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak. But the new maps contours truly began to crystallize earlier this year, when the Philippines Supreme Court ruled as constitutional a new defense agreement with the United States. 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. director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative at Peking . Today's world is the US-led where China is a rising giant economically and politically. Since 2009, China has growingly asserted its influence over the SCS by enforcing an annual fishing ban, conducting regular maritime patrols, undertaking scientific surveys and conducting military exercises in the disputed islands and waters. The United States and the West more broadly can live with such an outcome. Beyond that, there are a variety of formal security cooperation agreements with Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. For example, the Spratly Islands are claimed in entirety by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and in part by Brunei, the Philippines and Malaysia; each except Brunei occupies some of the islands. The Obama administrations decision to lift the decades-old arms embargo on Vietnam is instrumental here. The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. In this article, let us look at the strategic importance of the South China Sea, History of the South China Sea Dispute, countries involved, causes, impacts, India's stand on the dispute and the way forward for the UPSC IAS Examination. The South China Sea is a core interest of both Vietnam and China. It is little surprise, then, that Southeast Asian states are drawing closer to the United Statesboth seeking aid in developing their own defense capabilities and hoping that stronger ties act as a deterrent to Chinese assertiveness. access to Thailands military facilities, particularly the strategically located and well-equipped Utapao airbase, is considered invaluable. China, Russia and the Munich Security Conference. With a maturing coast guard, navy and air force, Vietnam will become an increasingly prickly foe. The United States needs to consider a wider variety of non-military responses to Chinas efforts to control the South China Sea, and more effectively build a local coalition to support these responses. China has tried to effectively annex the whole South China Sea region as its territorial waters, according to Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). First, the United States should feel more confident to pressure the junta on human rights concerns. TheSouth China Seais one of the most important economic and environmental regions in the world. The United States can, if necessary, accept a continental Southeast Asia that leans China without major concern for Americas primary interests. What countries are claiming sovereignty, and to what extent is this disrupting regional stability? Firstly, the South China Sea is a prominent shipping passage with $5.3 trillion worth of . Stay Connected! These islands are large enough for military runways and well as SAM installations. - Interview with Mei Gechlik, Pelosi's visit to Taiwan Spiking Tensions Between the U.S. and China: an interview with Andrew K.P. "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 deterrence against the US," he explained. A new arrangement for U.S. naval access to Cam Ranh Bay may well be in the offing. Access to all three is now in doubt. As maritime security such as safety and freedom of . Giving ground on vital interests in Asia will not encourage greater cooperation on global issues. That grouping came under Chinese control an event that went almost entirely unnoticed in the wider world as the drama marking the end of the Vietnam War played out. All Rights Reserved. The third will assess the policies/strategies currently employed by the United States in this arena as well as other plausible options. The strategic importance of the South China Sea cannot be overstated. 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. South China Sea is a strategic sea lane is significance for connectivity, navigation, trade and resources is a global hotspot as a potential flashpoint. With Burma internationally isolated for much of the past three decades, Beijing invested heavily in that countrys leadership. The United States sent a carrier battle group there as well. Yet, it was and is all of that. The same cannot be said for China and a maritime Southeast Asia that aligns with the United States. f) . China perceives Vietnam as an obstacle for acquiring its control over this strategic sea.
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