Part 1: Weak arguments, forceful actions
Seen in the context of its
actions over the past half century, there is nothing surprising about China’s
recent deployment of an illegal drilling rig in Vietnam’s waters. This is just
one more notch in the ratchet Beijing has long wielded to "monopolize the
East Sea". The strategy was hatched by the Middle Kingdom long ago and the
country has continuously found ways to implement it without regard for
international law or its commitments to the world community.
 |
|
China’s
nine-dashed line in East Vietnam Sea
|
China self-draws the so-called “nine-dotted
line”
China is the country that
is most vociferous about raising claims in the East Sea, but it wasn’t until
1951 that Beijing issued its first statement on the matter. At the San
Francisco Conference, Premier Zhou Enlai said that Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands),
Truong Sa (Spratly Island) and Pratas Islands “were and always had been” part
of Chinese territory.
The claims were then pushed
to a higher level in 1997, when the Chinese Foreign Minister said that China’s
sovereignty over the East Sea China was "nonnegotiable", although the
claims reached the southern tip of the Reed Bank, close to the Borneo
territories of Malaysia. However, when it came to justifying such claims, only
vague assertions were made, with the general argument that China had
"useful evidence" on the issue of its sovereignty.
The so-called
"historical evidence" was ultimately revealed by China in May of
2009, a day after Malaysia and Vietnam filed their joint report registering the
extended continental shelf in the south of East Sea to the Commission on the
Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). China responded with a diplomatic note
to the UN Secretary-General to object, and included an attached "9-dotted
line" map, which asserts Chinese sovereignty over more than 80% of the
East Sea and the entire Spratly and Paracel archipelagos of Vietnam.
In fact, this is the
"11-dotted line" map, made by the Chiang Kai-shek government of the
Republic of China in 1947, with two lines extending into the Gulf of Tonkin,
which were removed in 1953. Even Chinese researchers have had to acknowledge
the legal weakness of the so-called "9-dotted line” sovereignty.
Not only raising the
9-dotted line claims, China also claims the East Sea a "core
interest" – a concept that Beijing uses to refer to "hot spot"
issues concerning national sovereignty. Other Chinese “hot spots” include
Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan. These are issues over which China says it will not
compromise, and will resort to force "if necessary".
Chinese officials and
Chinese media have repeatedly underscored this point. A Xinhua article
published in August 2011 asserted that China has "indisputable
sovereignty" over three million square kilometers of East Sea waters, and
that these waters are part of the "core interests" of China.
All of the above statements
reveal a single intention: China resolves to monopolize the East Sea and turn
it into its own pond.
The steps to monopolize the East Sea
To fulfill its ambition of
coopting the East Sea, China has continuously taken acts that lead to
instability in the region, focusing on the following measures:
“Legalizing
sovereignty": This is a series of continuous steps, under the first phase
of the road map to "control, master and monopolize" the East Sea,
aiming to mold public opinion at home and abroad. In 1996, shortly after the
signing the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), China
immediately approved an agreement ratifying this Convention, with the reserved
clause “historical rights” belonging to China before the provisions of UNCLOS.
China has also inculcated its children with its supposed East Sea sovereignty,
promoting the "nine-dotted line" in school textbooks.
In 2012, "legitimizing
sovereignty" escalated to a new level, when China announced its
establishment of the so-called Sansha City on Phu Lam Island of the Paracel
archipelago of Vietnam, which China claims has the authority to administer both
the Paracel and Spratly Islands of Vietnam. Six months later, China placed the
9-dotted line in electronic passports – a wrongful act in international
relations that was many countries objected to.
Invasion through economic
activities: This is the act of mastering the East Sea step by step, based on
arguments that, where maritime economic activities are conducted, sovereignty
is established. Along with strong investment in law enforcement forces at sea
such as the Coast Guard, the Fisheries Administration and the Marine Patrol
forces, China has encouraged Chinese fishermen to ply their trade in the remote
fishing grounds in the overlapped areas or even in the waters of other
countries.
In addition, the Hainan
provincial government, with the consent of the central government, annually
issues a "fishing ban" over the East Sea.
And, as evidenced in recent
days, China has urged its national petroleum corporations to extend their
activities to the East Sea. In June of 2012, the China National Offshore Oil
Corporation (CNOOC) invited international bidding for nine oil blocks with a
total area of over 160,000 km2, located deep in the continental shelf of Vietnam.
On May 1, 2014, CNOOC illegally deployed the HD-981 oil rig in Vietnam’s
continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, evoking strong opposition from
regional and international communities.
"Breaking the status
quo": A systematic process to assert sovereignty in the step-by-step
manner of "silkworms eating mulberry". China ultimately expects
countries in the region to resign themselves to its claims of sovereignty as a
fait accompli.
Even the use of force is
treated as just another tool that the Middle Kingdom is ready to wield in
furthering its insatiable ambitions. In 1956 China invaded a part of the
Paracels and in 1974 completed its occupation of the entire archipelago. In
1988, Chinese troops invaded Gac Ma Island of Vietnam’s Spratlys.
In a similar scenario,
China sent seven boats in 1995 to occupy Vanh Khan Island of the Spratly
archipelago. In early 2013, the Beijing government illegal occupied Scarborough
Shoal/ Huangyan, over which the Philippines claims sovereignty, and has
maintained a permanent presence of ships around this shoal in order to, again,
“change the status quo”. The deployment of the HD-981 rig in Vietnam's waters
is just another step in “status quo transformation”.
Enhancing naval power: The
goal is to create "military deterrence", to apply further pressure on
regional countries to resign themselves to Chinese claims of sovereignty.
Thanks to its rapid economic growth, China has strengthened its military capabilities,
especially naval power, and especially in the East Sea. Once the weakling of
China’s naval forces, the South Sea Fleet has been heavily upgraded to become
the pride of the Chinese navy, with the biggest and most modern warships. Along
with that, the Sanya/Hainan naval base is being continuously expanded to
receive nuclear submarines and even aircraft carriers.
Source: VOV/VNN
