China’s
Maritime Disputes:
The East and South
China Sea is the scene of escalating territorial disputes between China and its
neighbors, including Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The tensions shaped
by China's growing assertiveness, have fueled concerns over armed conflict.
Six countries lay
overlapping claims to the East and South China Seas, an area that is rich in
hydrocarbons and natural gas and through which trillions of dollars of global
trade flow. As it seeks to expand its maritime presence, China has been met by
growing assertiveness from regional claimants like Japan, Vietnam, and the
Philippines. The increasingly frequent standoffs span from the Diaoyu/Senkaku
Islands, on China’s eastern flank, to the long stretch of archipelagos in the
South China Sea that comprise hundreds of islets.
China’s maritime
disputes span centuries. The tug-of-war over sovereignty of the Diaoyu/Senkakus
in the East China Sea can be traced to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, while
Japan’s defeat in World War II and Cold War geopolitics added complexity to
claims over the islands. At the heart of the dispute are eight uninhabited
islands and rocks in the East China Sea. They have a total area of about 7 sq
km and lie north-east of Taiwan, east of the Chinese mainland and south-west of
Japan's southern-most prefecture, Okinawa. The islands are controlled by Japan.
Japan and China
reach a four-point agreement designed to improve diplomatic and security ties.
The agreement also aims to put in place crisis-management mechanisms to prevent
escalated conflict over disputed territory in the East China Sea.
The fight over
overlapping exclusive economic zones in the South China Sea has an equally
complex chronology of events steeped in the turmoil of Southeast Asian history.
Globalization—including extensive free trade pacts between claimants and recent
developments like the U.S. “pivot” to Asia has further connected the two
disputes. As China’s economic ascent facilitates growing military capabilities
and assertiveness in both seas, other regional players are also experiencing
their own rise in nationalism and military capability, and have exhibited
greater willingness to stake territorial claims.
In recent years,
China has undertaken drastic efforts to dredge and reclaim thousands of square
feet in the South China Sea. Its construction of artificial islands and
infrastructure, such as runways, support buildings, loading piers, and possible
satellite communication antennas, has prompted its neighbors and the United
States to question whether they are strictly for civilian purposes, as claimed
by the government. China’s land development has profound security implications.
The potential to deploy aircraft, missiles, and missile defense systems to any
of its constructed islands vastly boosts China’s power projection, extending
its operational range south and east by as much as 1,000 kilometers (620
miles). China’s highest rate of island development activity is taking place on
the Paracel and Spratly Island chains. China has reclaimed more than 2,900
acres since December 2013, more land than all other claimants combined in the
past forty years. In addition to China, the Spratlys are claimed by Malaysia,
the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Vietnam hotly
disputes China's historical account, saying China had never claimed sovereignty
over the islands before the 1940s. Vietnam says it has actively ruled over both
the Paracels and the Spratlys since the 17th Century and has the documents to
prove it.
The other major
claimant in the area is the Philippines, which invokes its geographical
proximity to the Spratly Islands as the main basis of its claim for part of the
grouping. Both the Philippines and China lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal
(known as Huangyan Island in China) - a little more than 100 miles (160km) from
the Philippines and 500 miles from China. The Philippines in 2013, initiates an
international arbitration case under UNCLOS over Chinese claims of sovereignty
to the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal to challenge its claims. In July
2016, the tribunal backed the Philippines' case, saying China had violated the
Philippines' sovereign rights.But China had boycotted the proceedings, and
called the ruling "ill-founded".
In 2013, China’s
Ministry of Defense announces the creation of an East China Sea Air Defense
Identification Zone also includes two pieces of disputed territory. That
requires all non-commercial air traffic to submit flight plans prior to
entering the area, which covers most of the East China Sea and includes the
Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. China announces it could take military action against
aircraft flying near the islands, elevating the territorial dispute to
airspace. China and Japan summon each others’ ambassadors to lodge official
complaints, while South Korea, the United States, and Japan all respond by
sending military aircraft on patrols over the East China Sea.
According to the
Convention on International Civil Aviation, states have sovereignty over the
airspace over their territory, including territorial waters. Air Defense
Identification Zones do not, however, confer any sovereign rights.
Malaysia also laid
claim to territory in the South China Sea that they say falls within their
economic exclusion zones, as defined by UNCLOS - the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea.
