The South China Sea: A Place for Handshakes, not Arm-Wrestling

On 27 October 2015, the USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12-nautical-miles of islands and reefs in China’s Nansha (Spratly) Islands without the permission of the Chinese government on the pretext of maintaining freedom of navigation. Disregarding Chinese warnings and regional security concerns, such a provocative and reckless move threatened China’s sovereignty and security interests, put the personnel and facilities on the islands and reefs at risk and endangered regional peace and stability. Chinese government has dealt with an apparent dilemma with political will and wisdom. The Chinese warships charged with monitoring, following and warning the US vessel refrained from taking any measures that may result in escalating regional tensions.

As is clearly and repeatedly claimed by the Chinese government, China was, is and will be committed to maintaining regional peace and stability, and pursuing a good-neighbor foreign policy. China advocates a collaborative diplomatic process among all parties to resolve disputes under international law. China’s land reclamation efforts in the Nansha Islands are simply intended to improve the living and working conditions of personnel stationed there and perform China’s international responsibility and obligation in maritime search and rescue, disaster prevention and mitigation, marine science and research, meteorological observation, environmental protection, navigation safety, fishery production service and so on.

It is noteworthy that over the past year, along with China’s land reclamation efforts, Vietnam and the Philippines also took similar measures. But the US surprisingly turned a blind eye and only cast criticism over China. This is a clear violation of its commitment to take no sides in the South China Sea dispute.

China’s ambiguity over the legal nature of the nine-dashed line and the artificial islands not only allows her more leeway in dealing with the South China Sea dispute, but also contributes to regional peace and stability. China will never take any measure that may undermine the safety of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea. Therefore, it is inadvisable for the US to try to coerce China into taking a clear-cut stand on the legal nature of the nine-dashed line and the artificial islands.

In light of the muscle flexing acts conducted by the US in the South China Sea in recent years, it is important for China to take under consideration certain precautionary measures like promulgating the territorial sea baseline of the Nansha Islands, bolstering defensive military deployment on the artificial islands and declaring an air defense identification zone.

Besides, the United States is kindly reminded to learn the lessons of the chaos in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, which prove that flexing muscles will never bring stability. It is incumbent upon the US to honor its commitment to keep a neutral stance in the South China Sea. The South China Sea should become a place for handshakes, not arm-wrestling.

Jiang Zongqiang and Ye Qiang are Assistant Research Fellows at China National Institute for South China Sea Studies.