China’s territorial ambitions raise tension in region

The Chinese government knows that every step to support its territorial claims with facts causes a cascade of criticism and protest from affected countries and their partners. But the critical time just diluting and Beijing movements usually do not have reverse. This fait accompli is taking its toll on China’s relations with its neighbors, particularly Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam, passing through one of its worst periods at a sensitive time; when the United States has stepped up efforts to woo Asian governments, within their line of foreign policy towards this part of the world.

Tensions reached a peak in recent days. Mobs of rioters set fire late Tuesday to 15 raided and looted factories and many other industrial areas near Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam, the government says. The incidents occurred after some 20,000 people demonstrated to protest the relocation of a Chinese rig to waters of the South China that Beijing and Hanoi are disputed, as has transpired Wednesday sea. Vandals attacked factories who thought they were owned or run by Chinese, but many Taiwanese or Korean proved. There has been no information on the existence of fatalities.

The riots occurred after Vietnam last week accused Chinese ships of ramming and firing water cannons against their ships, damaging some of them and injuring several of the crew. Beijing in early May placed unilaterally, an oil rig in waters near the Paracel Islands. The archipelago is under Chinese administration, but Hanoi says he belongs and quickly sent ships to the area. Taiwan also claims the Paracels, which house important fishery resources and potential reserves of gas and oil. According to experts, Beijing took this step to reassert their claims to sovereignty.

The anti-Chinese sentiment has also grown in the Philippines. Manila has said on Wednesday that he believes China has paved the way to build an airstrip or a military installation in soil reclaimed from the sea on the reef Johnson South, which is claimed by Manila, about 300 kilometers west of the island Philippine Palawan. If confirmed, it would be the first track that builds Beijing in the eight reefs and islands it controls in the Spratly archipelago, which is located in the South Sea of China and is the subject of claims also from Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam. These last two have runways in the area.

Samples trusted China itself are on the rise with increasing economic and military power. The incident at the Paracelsus adds to the establishment by Beijing last November, an ” area air defense identification (ADIZ, its acronym in English)” on the islands called Diaoyu by Beijing and Senkaku by Tokyo in the East China Sea, with the requirement that any plane passing through the area provide their flight plans to the Chinese authorities. United States and Japan refused to recognize the area and meet the demands, and sent warplanes repeatedly over the archipelago, which is controlled by Tokyo but is claimed by Beijing and is a source of constant friction between the two countries.

Washington said that the imposition of Chinese ADIZ broke the status quo in the East China Sea, while the Philippines feared that Beijing tried to establish a no-fly identification also in the South China Sea. So far, you have not done, but it has taken a significant step to moving the platform next to the Paracels and works in the Johnson South Reef.

The complexity of the situation in the seas of Asia became clear at the summit of Asean (stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations) held last weekend in Naypyidaw (capital of Myamnar). The different views on how to address territorial disputes with China tested the unit of the 10 countries that make up the group (Brunei, Cambodia, Filiipinas, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). While the Philippines and Vietnam have decided to openly confront Beijing and called for a strong statement against China, other governments are afraid to put their economic and political relations with the regional power in danger. In the end, the summit ended with a statement that the foreign ministers expressed their “serious concern” about the ” growing tension in the area ” and called for restraint on all involved, but did not mention directly to China.

The secretary general of Asean, Le Luong Minh Vietnamese recalled the need to agree a code of conduct on maritime disputes in the region, and said that despite three years of rounds of talks, they had failed to focus even weight issues. Beijing insists its differences with other countries are bilateral matters not of Asean.

China says it has done nothing wrong with moving the rig and acted with ” great restraint ” versus ” strong provocation ” of Vietnam, which, he said, jeopardized its staff and its properties. He insisted that the drilling will continue as long as the area is free of typhoons in May, June and July.

Xianliang Yi, deputy director general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that operations in the area are ” completely legal, legitimate and justified ” because the waters are “inherent part of Chinese territory.” According to Yi, Vietnam sent 35 ships in five days, which rammed the Chinese 171 times. He also said that some of the Vietnamese boats were armed with, while the Chinese were civilians and were unarmed.

This version differs from that provided by the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung, the meeting of Asean. As stated, China moved ” blatantly the rig to Vietnamese waters, with an escort of 80 armed vessels and many military aircraft.” Hanoi has said that the Chinese move is illegal, that the safety and freedom of navigation in this strategic area for marine traffic are under serious threat, and called on Beijing to remove the platform.

The two communist countries have tried to leave behind memories of the brief border war fought in 1979. Hanoi usually care for their opinions on Beijing. Is its largest trading partner, with bilateral trade of more than 50,000 million (36,300 million euros) in 2013. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that the Vietnamese government is not given to allow mobilizations, on Sunday authorized several protests. Around a thousand people rallied in Hanoi, the heat of patriotic songs and shouts of ” China, do not steal our oil.” Demonstrations also took place in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang.

The movement in Beijing in the Paracels occurred shortly after the Asian tour of U.S. President Barack Obama last month, in which he reaffirmed the commitments to defend Washington with Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, and shook relations with Malaysia to counter the rising Chinese power in the area.

United States, which takes no position on the sovereignty of the territories at stake, has criticized the transfer of the oil rig. The defense secretary, John Kerry, said Tuesday in a telephone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the shipping platform and many Chinese ships to Paracelsus was ” provocative”, according to the Department of Defense said. Washington is trying to attract to Vietnam as a new ally in the region through trade and military incentives to reduce its dependence on China.

Beijing, which claims most of the South China – an important area of ??sea maritime transport has accused the Obama administration to promote provocations of their opponents in the area. The conflict is especially intense with the Philippines, which has welcomed the recent decision by Tokyo to strengthen the role of the army, largely in response to China’s rise.

Last week, the Philippines intercepted a Chinese trawler and arrested its 11 crew sandbar near Half Moon (Crescent), located in the Spratly about 110 miles west of Palawan, of fish more than 500 sea turtles, a protected species. Nine sailors – the other two are smaller – have been accused of environmental crime despite Beijing ‘s warnings about consequences in mutual relations. China asked to release the crew because, he says, the ship operated in Chinese waters. Fishermen face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino has called for an international solution to the territorial conflict, and in March asked a UN court to declare illegal the Chinese claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. Beijing has rejected international arbitration, and insists on negotiating bilaterally. One by one against all.

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Posted by Jamshed Sindhu on May 16 2014. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.