The second will analyze the strategic landscape in and around the South China Sea. China, for example, has asserted a maritime claim to a large majority of the South China Sea that is not consistent with international law. China, Russia and the Munich Security Conference. When it comes to trade, investment and infrastructure development, China should not be the only game in town. The South China Sea contains some of the world's most important shipping lanes. There were, however, cautionary signs for those prepared to see them. Shortly after the ARF concluded, an official spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry asserted Chinas indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea. U.S. access to the military facilities on the South China Seas southern flank, however, would shift the regions balance of power in Americas favor. Access to all three is now in doubt. Most of China's global trade is seaborne. Diplomatic, informational, legal, and economic responses are currently underrepresented in U.S. China policy, and their incorporation into the policy toolkit will be important for successfully dissuading China over the long-term. South China Sea is a strategic sea lane is significance for connectivity, navigation, trade and resources is a global hotspot as a potential flashpoint. Over the longer term, American defense contractors may have their sights set on sales of fighter aircraft and attack helicopters. The new administration should provide authoritative explanations of these operations and not alter their schedule in response to Chinese pressure. At the economic front, it is estimated that an annual global trade of $5.3 trillion passes through the SCS. TheSouth China Seais one of the most important economic and environmental regions in the world. China's strategic reach into the South China Sea has obvious and profound implications for three sets of international actors: (1) the littoral Southeast Asian states (Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines); (2) major maritime countries heavily dependent on the sea lanes through the South China Sea (including Japan, Korea, and China has become increasingly assertive in the region, and regional powers from Japan to Singapore have become alarmed at China's behavior. . Total fish stocks have been depleted by 70 to 95 percent since the 1950s. 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. The United States also faces a challenge in enforcing international law in the South China Sea. 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. In October 2020, Hong Kong's air traffic control denied a Taiwanese flight access to Pratas Island, a Taiwan-occupied feature in the South China Sea. Australia and Vietnam established a Comprehensive Partnership in 2009 and agreed to expand it in 2015. 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. Its strategic economic importance and its geographic location at the confluence of several spheres of influence have rendered it one of the "world's hotspots". Check out the linked article on the Belt and road initiative now. Not taking a position on sovereignty allows the United States to flexibly intervene in the South China Sea to defend its interests and international rules and norms, while undercutting Chinese attempts to paint U.S. actions as a threat to Beijings sovereignty. 1) Islands are much more strategically valuable. Navy P-8s are now regularly deploying to Singapore and, although without regular access, they have conducted patrols from Malaysia as well. 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. The SCS is passage of half of the world trade. Chinas military modernization has included structural reforms establishing a Joint Operations Command and five new theatre commands (Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western and Central). With the incoming administration likely to grapple early with South China Sea issues, the CSIS Southeast Asia Program, directed by Dr. Amy Searight, worked in collaboration with other Asia colleagues at CSISDr. Beyond that, there are a variety of formal security cooperation agreements with Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW This new strategic map of Southeast Asia actually began to take shape during the Bush administration, whichinitially launchedthe effort to move beyond Americas traditional hub-and-spokes alliance model in the Asia-Pacific. Chinas claims over the legal status and maritime rights of the 9 dash line remain ambiguous and outside of UN recognised EEZ claims. Chinas rising military power and political influence is generating anxiety and suspicion among some of its neighbours and western powers. Giving ground on vital interests in Asia will not encourage greater cooperation on global issues. Thats why the United States has urged countries to resolve maritime claim disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law. As the pivot of global economy continues to move east it is highly likely that 21st century geopolitics will continue to revolve around Asia and the SCS. The United States can stand firm on its principles and deter China from undermining the regional order while maintaining a productive relationship. This button displays the currently selected search type. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. Not only Vietnam is the strongest opponent of the Chinese nine-dash line claim in the region, Vietnam's sustained economic growth has pushed it to emerge as an important player in the South East Asia, which China perceives is not in its interests. Brunei's statement seems to present a unified front with the Philippines and Vietnam, in preparation for its ASEAN chairmanship in 2021, where ASEAN and China hope to finalise the formulation of the code of conduct to reduce tensions in the South China Sea. That included nearly 40 percent of Chinas total trade and 90 percent of petroleum imports by China, Japan, and South Korea and nearly 6 percent of total U.S. trade. 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 . Any such assertion must rest on an understanding that critical U.S. national interests, including both economic and security interests, are at stake and at risk. The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. By the end of the 1970s, communist insurgencies outside Indochina had been effectively suppressed. In addition, it has proved oil and gas reserves, so the sovereignty of the disputed islands involves legal rights to exploit its resources. In addition, the United States has affirmed some responsibility for the defense of Taiwan and has close security ties with Singapore and New Zealand. Today's world is the US-led where China is a rising giant economically and politically. The South China Sea is a strategic body of water bordering Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and China. U.S. leaders should not be afraid of tension in the U.S.-China relationship. The USSJohn C. Stennistied up there for a few days in April. In 1974, Chinese gunboats attacked and defeated a small South Vietnamese military outpost in the Paracels an archipelago of reefs, atolls, and islets in the South China Sea. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea. Unfortunately, the allies now lack a shared strategic outlook, thus reducing the impetus to overcome recent bilateral political hurdles. Countering Chinas efforts has become a key test of perceived U.S. commitment to many in the region. "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 will continue to stand with our allies and partners to uphold the order that we helped build, Pencesaid. The Thai people are lurching towards a new political arrangement, a process that Thais have to see through for themselves. Walter Lohman hasdescribedCobra Gold as an achievement that has proved useful for military missions, such as joint patrols of vital sea lanes, and noncombat missions, such as disaster relief following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in Burma.. As building of military facilities continued in 2015, the US explicitly announced its opposition to these constructions and tasked surveillance assets to conduct over flights in the SCS and significantly raised tensions. The geopolitical message was unmistakable: Western expectations that China was transitioning toward political democracy were entirely illusory. Accordingly, Malaysia's note verbale serves as the strongest stance of Malaysia on the SCS in recent times and aligns itself with the top priority of its DWP. In a meeting attended by the foreign ministers of 26 nations from the broader region, Clinton simply asserted that the South China Sea was subject to multiple territorial claims and a multinational mechanism should be established to find a peaceful diplomatic solution. The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. 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. Several countries in the area, including China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, make overlapping sovereignty claims over the islands and maritime rights in the SCS. Unfortunately, some countries fail to comply with the existing international law. The Tribunal rejects Chinas maritime claims that go beyond the entitlements set out in the Law of the Sea Convention. South China Sea has geo-strategic, geo-politic and geo-economic importance due to half of the world trade passage and presence of precious resources of oil and gas. European access to Asia will be through Beijing. Center for Strategic and International Studies The third will assess the policies/strategies currently employed by the United States in this arena as well as other plausible options.
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