Most international experts and scholars reached by TuoiTreNews have
voiced their support for the US role in exercising freedom of navigation in the
East Vietnam Sea over recent tensions related to artificial islands illegally
built by China there.
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U.S fighter jets on standby at the upper deck of a USS
George Washington aircraft carrier while a U.S. Cowpens ship pass during a
media tour in the East Vietnam Sea, 170 nautical miles from Manila September 3,
2010.
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As reported by the Wall Street Journal on
May 12, the U.S. military is considering using aircraft and naval ships to
directly contest Chinese territorial claims to a chain of rapidly expanding
artificial islands.
According to the report, Defense Secretary Ash Carter has
asked his staff to look at options that include flying Navy surveillance
aircraft over the islands and sending U.S. naval ships to within 12 nautical
miles of reefs that have been illicitly built up and claimed by the Chinese in
Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.
Below are opinions
expressed by several international experts and scholars who study East Vietnam
Sea disputes.
Regional states
harassed by China will welcome this decision if approved
The Obama Administration has not yet approved officially this
recommendation. At a minimum U.S. Navy patrols will keep China from asserting
de facto control over a maritime area larger than the 12 nm around each of its
features. It is a serious effort to confront China with the fact that if it
persists the U.S. will only stay engaged. Regional states that are harassed by
China will welcome this decision if approved.
I agree with this action and made a recommendation to this
effect in my recent paper published by the U.S. Center for New American Policy
in Washington.
China and the U.S. are working for the September summit
between Xi Jinping and Barack Obama. China will want to test the U.S. but not
too far to spoil the summit. China has already completed land reclamation on
four or seven features and is now moving to consolidate its presence by
building infrastructure. China will not directly confront the U.S. because it
is risk adverse and does not want to escalate the situation.
China is adept at moderating its behavior to suit
circumstances. China will complete construction of its infrastructure and only
deploy civilian assets with an emphasis on public goods - weather data, search
and rescue. China will try to draw in individual ASEAN countries in some sort
of symbolic activities designed to undermine the U.S. position. The true test
will come at the next meeting of the ASEAN-China Joint Working Group to
Implement the Guidelines of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the
East Vietnam Sea later this month. U.S. pressure might make China adopt a
slightly more cooperative posture, after all China does not want U.S.
involvement in the East Vietnam Sea issues.
(Professor Carl Thayer
at Australian Defense Force Academy )
It is for the right
reason
The U.S. needs to reassure these parties and other countries
that need transit through the East Vietnam Sea that it is a credible force for
stability. In addition, the U.S. might be concerned that if China manages to
seize control of the East Vietnam Sea then it will have a potential
stranglehold on one of the most important maritime arteries in the world.
It is important to note that the U.S. has no intention to
seize territory or maritime space in the East Vietnam Sea from any
country.
Of the reefs on which China is building islands, Mischief (đá
Vành Khăn), Subi (đá Xu Bi) and Gaven (đá Gaven) are reportedly naturally below
high tide. According to international law, no country can claim sovereignty
over them. Furthermore they are not entitled to a territorial sea or exclusive
economic zone. Artificial islands built on Mischief and Subi are only entitled
to a 500-meter safety zone, outside of which any country has the freedom of
navigation. If China tries to claim a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea for
Mischief and Subi, that will violate UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea]. Gaven is slightly different in that it lies within 12 nautical
miles of Namyit Island (đảo Nam Yết), which means if lighthouses or similar
installations which are permanently above sea level have been built on it, it
could be used as a base point for drawing straight baselines and claiming
territorial sea.
The U.S. has a long-standing policy of deliberately
disregarding maritime claims that violate international law. In the past it
disregarded China’s view on the freedom of navigation in the EEZ [exclusive
economic zone]. It is possible that it will also disregard China’s unlawful
claims of territorial sea by exercising its right to the freedom of navigation.
If this happens, it is most likely that China will respond with actions that
will lead to confrontations such as the Impeccable incident in 2009.
Unfortunately the U.S. is not an UNCLOS signatory, so it cannot unilaterally
take China to court. This brings us to an important point: if China tries to
claim a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea for Mischief and Subi, other UNCLOS
signatories should take it to court. Among other things, that would help to
prevent incidents between China and the U.S.
The other reefs that China is building islands on, namely
Fiery Cross (đá Chữ Thập), Cuarteron (đá Châu Viên), Hughes (đá Tư Nghĩa),
Johnson South (đá Gạc Ma), and possibly Eldad (đá Én Đất) (there is conflicting
information regarding Eldad), all have rocks above high tide, which means they
are entitled to a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea. Within the territorial sea
there is no freedom of navigation. Instead, there is the right of innocent
passage, which is a more limited right. This right applies even to military
ships and aircraft. No country has the right to prevent the U.S. from
exercising this right in a way that conforms to UNCLOS within 12 nautical miles
of these reefs. Again, if the U.S. chooses to do so, China is likely to respond
with actions that will lead to confrontations such as the Impeccable
incident.
However, these hypothetical confrontations might escalate
because the Spratlys area is extremely sensitive and because any confrontations
will be in close proximity to Chinese air or naval bases.
From the legal point of view, it is totally justifiable to
exercise the freedom of navigation within 12 miles of Mischief and Subi, and
the right of innocent passage within 12 miles of the other reefs.
If China can also use threats and coercion to prevent other
countries, including the U.S., from exercising the freedom of navigation and
the right of innocent passage, that would cast a black cloud over the future of
the East Vietnam Sea.
I appreciate and back the U.S.’s support for the rule of law
in the East Vietnam Sea and its stance against coercion, which I think are
fundamentally correct. Certainly the U.S. has no intention to violate Vietnam’s
sovereignty or rights. Therefore, if the U.S. chooses to take the actions that
the Wall Street Journal has reported, I believe that it is for
the right reason.
However, the East Vietnam Sea disputes are long games,
therefore the U.S. and other concerned countries need a strategy that can go
the distance. If the U.S. and other countries could work in concert, and as
part of a long term strategy, to challenge China’s illegal maritime claims in
multiple theaters, that might be better than high profile confrontations at sea
that cannot be sustained.
(Dr. Duong DanhHuy, a
UK-based Vietnamese scholar and expert on the East Vietnam Sea)
A difficult
dilemma for the U.S.
China's reclamation projects have created a difficult dilemma
for the United States: in order to maintain credibility among its friends and
allies in the region, it will have to make a firm response which underscores that
it is ready to defend freedom of navigation in the region; however,
regional states do not want America to pursue measures that inflame
tensions with China and undermine regional peace and stability. Finding a
middle path between inaction and escalation is the problem that American
policymakers now face.
(Dr. Ian
Storey: Senior Fellow, Editor, Contemporary Southeast
Asia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies)
China’s reclamation
projects affect regional security order
Vietnam, the Philippines, the U.S. and other countries are of
the view that Beijing’s efforts to change the status quo through a mixture of
coercion, massive reclamation projects, and the construction of military
installations violate international norms and adversely affect the development
of a stable and just regional security order. In this sense Beijing’s actions
are seen as provocative, whereas the activities of the U.S. military will be
seen as legitimate and commensurate with the aims of maritime security in the
region.
(Dr. Jonathan London,
Southeast Asia Research Center, City University of Hong Kong)
Source: tuoitrenews
