The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea is an international treaty that sets out importantmaritime rules. In 2010, the US declared its freedom of navigation in the SCS to be a national interest in response to Chinas increasingly assertive posture. These islands are large enough for military runways and well as SAM installations. In December, another joint China-Russia naval exercise was held in the East China Sea (China Military Online, December 21, 2022). Geo-Strategic Importance of the South China Sea In 2012, then Chinese president Hu Jintao voiced his desire to make China a powerful maritime nation. Washington, DC 20036. There are certainly other situations involving other challenges, but this is the most plausible and dangerous. This article aims to highlight security dynamics of the US-China competition in the Indo-Pacific associated with the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea through the prism of Balance of Threat Th. Notably, the paper identified Malaysia's maritime claims in the South China Sea as its top security concern. 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. Chinas rising military power and political influence is generating anxiety and suspicion among some of its neighbours and western powers. Successful capacity building efforts will allow Southeast Asian states to better help themselves, bolstering deterrence against low-level Chinese coercion and allowing the U.S. military to focus more on deterring high-level contingencies. In recent years, U.S. military planners have shifted their focus from counterterrorism, low intensity conflict to great power, high intensity threats. The new administration should issue clear and consistent strategic messages, since inconsistent articulation of the objectives of the rebalance strategy has caused confusion in China and amongst U.S. allies and partners. the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States." Chinese control of the SCS-and, more generally, Chinese domination of China's near-seas region, meaning the SCS, the East China Sea (ECS), and the Yellow Sea-could substantially aect U.S. strategic, political, and economic interests in the Indo-Pacic region and . The United States needs to consider a wider variety of non-military responses to Chinas efforts to control the South China Sea, and more effectively build a local coalition to support these responses. Since 2009, China has growingly asserted its influence over the SCS by enforcing an annual fishing ban, conducting regular maritime patrols, undertaking scientific surveys and conducting military exercises in the disputed islands and waters. 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. The main route to and from Pacific and Indian ocean ports is through the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. Yet, it was and is all of that. In practice, Thailand may be neutral in the regions great power fissures into the next decade. The United States sent a carrier battle group there as well. China's Art of Strategic Incrementalism in the South China Sea 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 . But in order to achieve renewed stability in the regionto ensure that Southeast Asians are not susceptible to non-military Chinese coercionthe United States must strive to become more than just the security partner of choice. Yet, due to Turkey's strategic importance, the US cannot afford to affront Mr. Erdogan, who carries a peculiar . The United States also faces a challenge in enforcing international law in the South China Sea. "American aircraft, this is the PLA air force. When it comes to trade, investment and infrastructure development, China should not be the only game in town. 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. The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. Chinas claims over the legal status and maritime rights of the 9 dash line remain ambiguous and outside of UN recognised EEZ claims. Miguel . Certainly, the ongoing reform process and the opening of relations with the United States amount to a strategic setback for Chinas position in the region. 2009 China issues two diplomatic notes that appear to claim a majority of the South China Sea. Post-Mao China, with the emergence of Deng Xiaoping as paramount leader, became a major constructive presence dedicated to economic development fueled by opening the Middle Kingdom to the region and the world. The growing size and capability of the Chinese air force, navy, and coast guard allow Beijing to consistently monitor and exercise de facto control over most of the South China Sea. These same sea-lanes are a vital military artery as the U.S. The United States and its Pacific allies should consider whether it is feasible and sensible to coordinate the activities of USAID, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea (With reference to the geopolitical, economic, and military aspects) South China Sea is known as one of the most significant and dangerous cluster of Islands in the contemporary world. What is more important from a strategic viewpoint, however, is that global energy projections that the EIA issues in the International Energy Outlook, issued in October 2021, make it clear that China and Asia will have a sharply growing dependence on MENA and Gulf petroleum exports that may well extend through 2050. To this end, the new administration should perform an early, top-down, and thorough strategic review to enable greater consistency and effectiveness in U.S. South China Sea policy. The United States has an interest in seeing that these partners maintain their strategic autonomy, but capacity building efforts to help them resist coercion are not keeping pace with Chinas growing capabilities. Thus, it is said that the South China Sea could be the battleground of World War III. Cooperation on areas of shared interest is important not only to the United States, but also to China. China has constructed more than 3,000 acres of artificial islands, and although this is not illegal, it is an intimidating display of wealth and power. Total fish stocks have been depleted by 70 to 95 percent since the 1950s. The islands are important, however, for strategic and political reasons. China has harassed U.S. Navy ships operating in the South China Sea, warned military flights to stay away from its artificial islands, and recently seized a U.S. drone operating in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. (PDF) Strategic Importance of Gwadar Port - ResearchGate The Art of War helps expose the motivation behind past, current, and future Chinese actions. This button displays the currently selected search type. Importance of the South China Sea for the US and China and their Access to all three is now in doubt. It can receive large aircraft (including C-17s and C-130s); it is close to a deep seaport; and it has infrastructure capable of handling command and control systems. From the report. Russia-Ukraine War Compels Japan to Reassess China Challenge, Shift The message will be clear; the era of American international leadership and predominance is over and a new preeminent power has taken its place. That grouping came under Chinese control an event that went almost entirely unnoticed in the wider world as the drama marking the end of the Vietnam War played out. Thats why the United States has urged countries to resolve maritime claim disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law. Russian long-range aviation, despite performing frequent combat missions against Ukraine, is also conducting Pacific patrols, sometimes together with Chinese H-6K strategic bombers (Nikkei Asia, November 30). 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. The South China Sea is one such essential waterway, made more important by the value of the sea's fisheries and subsea resources such as natural gas. Malaysia's Diplomacy in the South China Sea: Between the Devil and the The primary challenge to American regional predominance came from Maoist China first through the Korean War and then via communist insurgencies throughout Southeast Asia culminating in the Vietnam War (1963-75). If China succeeds, in displacing U.S. power in the Western Pacific and Chinese territorial expansion into the South China Sea becomes permanent and codified, global geopolitics will have entered a new and very different era. The third will assess the policies/strategies currently employed by the United States in this arena as well as other plausible options. Check out the linked article on the Belt and road initiative now. Expanding U.S. access to Vietnamese facilities as described above could eventually render access to Thai facilities somewhat redundant, further weakening the institutional support for the alliance in the United States. How Much Oil and Gas Is Contained in the South China Sea? The importance of the South China Sea | ShareAmerica Conservation values protection of marine habitat against wanton, unnecessary despoliation are also essential. But the new maps contours truly began to crystallize earlier this year, when the Philippines Supreme Court ruled as constitutional a new defense agreement with the United States. Geo-Strategic Significance And Importance Of South China Sea For China 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. The United States should intensify capacity building efforts with allies and partners to improve their ability to resist Chinese coercion. In other words, his primary concern is that the rivalry over the South China Sea could derail Beijing's strong strategic focus on the Taiwan issue.25 Academic perspectives on the South China Sea are important and may actually be quite influential. Report on U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas Beijing has also been careful to avoid estranging Aung San Suu Kyi and adopted a largely pragmatic approach to the countrys transition away from authoritarian rule. 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. If full democratization is her goal, there is no foreign partner more important than Washington for achieving it. 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. Burma, however, is a potential bright spot for the U.S. position in continental Southeast Asia. Importance of South China Sea The South China Sea is a busy international waterway, one of the main arteries of global trade worth more than $5 trillion and is growing year on year. Countering Chinas efforts has become a key test of perceived U.S. commitment to many in the region. Nevertheless, Beijing had taken its first overt step to control the South China Sea. However, there were a number of reasons to conclude that the line was no cartographic anomaly; it was an official indication of Beijings contention that the sovereign territory of China included the South China Sea. To counter China's efforts to control the South China Sea, the United States needs a sustainable strategy to bolster its own capabilities, work more effectively with capable allies and partners, and strengthen the regional order. The U.S. militarys enhanced ability to loiter in and over the South China Sea, moreover, will facilitate more effective efforts to track Chinese submarines sailing from the PLANs underground naval base on Hainan island. In sum, the United States has built and maintained a dense network of security links and obligations throughout East and Southeast Asia all sustained by regular contact with the Seventh Fleet as it transits the region via 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. 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. To facilitate capacity building, Washington should preserve regional defense relationships while recognizing that the ability of the United States to partner with frontline states depends on their cooperation and adherence to good governance and human rights. Stay Connected! 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.