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. It would also open the option of persistently jamming Chinese radar installations in the Spratlys. Today's world is the US-led where China is a rising giant economically and politically. 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. The China - Solomon Islands security agreement and the competition in the South China Sea. A third of the world's shipping passes through it, its fisheries are critical sources of food for millions of people. European access to Asia will be through Beijing. The United States, moreover, should work with its other Pacific alliesAustralia, South Korea and especially Japanto consider ways that they can lead efforts to expand infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia, perhaps by reforming and enlarging the Asian Development Bank or by launching a joint infrastructure investment fund. The United States has formally objected to Chinas South China Sea maritime claims. It is clear that increased maritime power projection in the SCS, from the Chinese in particular, has upset regional stability, and this is likely to continue. 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. 2016 The Arbitration Tribunal rules in favor of the Philippines. The United States has been less successful in supporting local partners as they resist Chinese coercion. Now, the two militaries will increasingly exercise and train across a broad spectrum of military operations, from the low end to the high. What is the strategic importance of the South China Sea. In 2012, then Chinese president Hu Jintao voiced his desire to make China a powerful maritime nation. China has seized the initiative in the South China Sea, however, and the United States needs to revamp its strategy to reverse current trends and escape the trap of reactive and ineffectual policymaking. This order embodies certain foundational political principles respect for international law, preservation of the real sovereign independence of regional states, a refusal to legitimate unilateral territorial expansion, and the unconditional acceptance of the sea-lanes as a global commons. It remains entirely plausible that any Chinese strategy could have a long term goal of possessing the power to deny US or western warships access to the SCS, with China largely laying claim to most of the area as it's own waters. "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 . The United States has been largely successful at preserving its own freedom of action and deterring outright Chinese aggression in the South China Sea through routine presence operations. through South China Sea Port is 1400 kms long. Coral reefs, which are vital to marine habitats, have been declining by 16 percent per decade, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Chinas militarization and territorial expansion in the South China Sea is illegal and dangerous, Vice President Pence said at the East Asia Summit last year. Nevertheless, Beijing had taken its first overt step to control the South China Sea. China has adopted an increasingly assertive posture towards its own claims by elevating it to a core interest, strengthening its fishery law enforcement and building civilian and military facilities in the disputed islands and waters. In 2010, the US declared its freedom of navigation in the SCS to be a national interest in response to Chinas increasingly assertive posture. The outcome of that contest will profoundly influence, if not shape, the 21st century world. She also observed that the sea-lanes through the South China Sea constituted a global commons not subject to sovereign claims by any nation. The end of the Cold War found East Asia and the Western Pacific strategically quiescent. The United States can stand firm on its principles and deter China from undermining the regional order while maintaining a productive relationship. Washingtons relationship with Hanoi will make that more palatable. Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. In December, another joint China-Russia naval exercise was held in the East China Sea (China Military Online, December 21, 2022). Enduring U.S. interestsfreedom of navigation and overflight, support for the rules-based international order, and the peaceful resolution of disputesare at risk in the region. 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. Learn more in our Cookie Policy. It is a rich source of hydrocarbons and natural resources. The United States has leverage over China in areas not directly related to South China Sea and may have to consider using or threatening to use these tools to stabilize the regional order. The result has been to heighten tensions and allow Chinese forces to more easily project military power across the region. In 2016, they carried fully one-third of global shipping with an estimated value of $3.4 trillion. Beijing may not find it quite as easy to run roughshod over Hanoi in the coming years. Chinas claims over the legal status and maritime rights of the 9 dash line remain ambiguous and outside of UN recognised EEZ claims. access to Thailands military facilities, particularly the strategically located and well-equipped Utapao airbase, is considered invaluable. South China Sea and possible options. More than 50% of world trade passes through the Strait of Malacca, the Sunda Strait and Lombok Strait over the islands and waters of the SCS amounting to around $5 trillion. The South China Sea is the gateway to access to the world ocean, the nexus for navigation as well as a security fence for several littoral states. Washington (United States of America), February 27 (ANI): A Chinese J-11 fighter jet armed with air-to-air missiles intercepted the US Navy reconnaissance jet over the South China Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported. But if China continues to play its cards wrong and if the United States proves itself a dependable partner, American warships could one day regularly operate out of Cam Ranh Bay, the strategically located port-of-call, for the first time since the Vietnam War. 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. India and Vietnam, while acknowledging the strategic importance of the SCS and their volatile position when it comes to China's rising power, are edging closer toward each other. Over the longer term, American defense contractors may have their sights set on sales of fighter aircraft and attack helicopters. However, Brunei's insistence that specific issues in the maritime region should be . 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. The increasing activity of Beijing in the South China Sea, Consequences of US-China rivalry in Indo-Pacific and beyond, Balancing the giants: Australia between China and US. Burma, however, is a potential bright spot for the U.S. position in continental Southeast Asia. . It is highly likely that China will continue to upset regional stability in the SCS to expand its own sphere of influence. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), it carries one-third of global shipping, carrying trillions of dollars in trade, making it a significant geopolitical water body. Unfortunately, the allies now lack a shared strategic outlook, thus reducing the impetus to overcome recent bilateral political hurdles. The South China Sea has become important to the US because of China's challenge to the liberal rules-based order that America has promoted since the Pacific war. By contrast, China views. 5 min. Japan and South Korea will face a perilous new reality with China in control of the seaborne lifeline of both countries. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. The Chinese recently built an island in the South China Sea, apparently as a potential airbase. 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 . There were, however, cautionary signs for those prepared to see them. 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 . 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. In order to understand the contention of the South China Sea and its significance, it is firstly imperative to understand the geopolitical importance of Asia, which has given rise to Chinese pre-eminence; enabling its rise to contemporary major political power on the global stage. Since the mid-1990s, China has pursued a strategy . Sign up to receive ShareAmerica updates. India will lose its current freedom of access into the South China Sea and much of Southeast Asia. A South China Sea Strategy By Dan Blumenthal, Michael Auslin, and Michael Mazza I. Beware China: America Fights Back In recent years, China's inventive engineering feats have allowed it to. And thus a new strategic map of Asia begins to emerge. Finally, the United States should prioritize governance issues in its relations with Southeast Asian states. This principled stand allows the United States to defend its interests without embroiling itself in the murky sovereignty claims at the heart of the South China Sea dispute. This access will allow for more frequent, more sustained flights over the South China Sea, including over the disputed Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. At the economic front, it is estimated that an annual global trade of $5.3 trillion passes through the SCS. In the past two weeks, Filipino . It is the geostrategic importance that is usually the main reason for the parties to strengthen their claim over the Spratlys and the Paracels. The United States should continue to prioritize military presence in the Asia-Pacific at the same time as it invests in key capabilities, such as long-range precision strike, undersea warfare, cyber/space systems, and other capabilities that will preserve the U.S. ability to deter Chinese aggression. The most likely single scenario for a major military engagement against a great power adversary would be one against China centered on the South China Sea. The neighboring South East Asian countries of the highly volatile and busiest waterways of the South China Sea (SCS) have overlapping claims of sovereignty. 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. It is one in which China dominates the South China Sea from the north; the United States and its partners dominate the eastern and western edges of the sea; and the bulk of continental Southeast Asian states (Thailand, Cambodia and Laos) are either neutral or aligned more closely with China. Unfortunately, some countries fail to comply with the existing international law. U.S. leaders should not be afraid of tension in the U.S.-China relationship. That claim remained shrouded in a calculated fog of ambiguity until 2010 when Secretary of State Clinton addressed the status of the South China Sea and its sea-lanes at a meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi. South China Sea or even some part of its strategically significant zones will provide the sovereign nation state significant seat in global trade agreements. Most of China's global trade is seaborne. 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. by Geoffrey Hartman 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. economic importance associated with the ocean is tremendous and manifold. Vietnam already flies modern Russian fighter jets and is expecting delivery this year of its sixth and final Kilo-class submarinesubmarines so quiet that the U.S. Navy refers to them as black holes. If the Chinese Navy wants to have its way in the South China Sea, it will have to dedicate resources to tracking those subs, a task with which the PLAN has limited experience. Strategic Landscape of the South China Sea: While geopolitics indicates geographical relations with politics, there is another importance which is strategic. 2009 China issues two diplomatic notes that appear to claim a majority of the South China Sea. Preserving the U.S. military edge is key to maintaining the U.S. position in Asia. Tokyo and Manila agreed to a strategic partnership in 2011. The Obama administrations decision to lift the decades-old arms embargo on Vietnam is instrumental here. Tackling these issues will be tricky for the United States, as many of the elites that benefit from corruption will be those with whom Washington must work to deepen ties, but this is a long-term effort worth pursuing. In the near term, this could lead to sales of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment as well as patrol boats to allow Hanoi to better keep an eye on goings-on in the western South China Sea. All Rights Reserved, Japans Emerging Role as the Worlds Consensus Builder, Balancing Acts in U.S. Southeast Asia Policy, Pakistans Foreign Policy Priorities: A Conversation with Foreign Minister by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Indias Economic Ambitions in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Paving the Path to Soft Power: Crucial Moments in South Koreas Cultural Policies, Afghanistan: The United States Must Stay Engaged. All countries want positive economic and security ties with both China and the United States. Stay Connected! In addition, this thesis intends to propose a solution to the dispute by pulling from a variety of sources. The United States will continue to stand with our allies and partners to uphold the order that we helped build, Pencesaid. 1) Islands are much more strategically valuable. The largest and most powerful of these . Less sexy but no less important is a forthcoming arrangement by which Vietnam will allow the United States military to preposition supplies and equipment in Da Nang on the central coast. The area is globally important for a few reasons. Southeast Asians do not want to and should not have to choose between the two, but Chinese behavior is moving some states to pick sidesor at least to lean in one direction or another. Washington, DC 20036. Firstly, the South China Sea is a prominent shipping passage with $5.3 trillion worth of . Thus, it is said that the South China Sea could be the battleground of World War III. 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. Final Thoughts & Looking Towards the Future. 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. Seventh Fleet transits regularly between the Pacific and Indian Oceans (including the Bay of Bengal). China is undertaking a persistent, long-term effort to establish control over the South China Sea. The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea is an international treaty that sets out importantmaritime rules. In addition, it has proved oil and gas reserves, so the sovereignty of the disputed islands involves legal rights to exploit its resources. Geopolitical platform, analysis of political, military, security, economic, social events with international and geopolitics relevance. 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.
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strategic importance of south china sea