US Freedom of Navigation in South China Sea is a sheer hypocrisy

By Rabi Sankar Bosu

During his five-day visit to Australia from 22 to 26 March, 2017, at a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang spelled out China's consistent position and policy on the South China Sea on March 24, 2017: "China has no intention to militarize the South China Sea. China's facilities on the islands and reefs are primarily for civilian purposes and, even if there is a certain amount of defence equipment or facilities, it is for maintaining the freedom of navigation." 

Surely Premier Li's remarks is a right and powerful rebuke to US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson's comments that the United States would "defend international territories," including the South China Sea. Tillerson threatened in January that China's access to parts of the South China Sea might be blocked. The threats to bar China's access in the South China Sea are baseless, incredible and it has no basis in international law. 

Regarding Tillerson's remarks the China Daily's US edition published an editorial piece raising question, "As many have observed, it would set a course for devastating confrontation between China and the US. After all, how can the US deny China access to its own territories without inviting the latter's legitimate, defensive responses?" Tillerson's comments suggested that US President Donald Trump and his team have only shown a desire to be provocative on South China Sea issue. 

The truth is that the safety and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is an excuse for the United States to interfere in the region's affairs and it doesn't hold water because China hasn't done anything to thwart it. 

It becomes clear that the United States has been deliberately creating tensions, sending military ships within 12 nautical miles of Chinese "territorial waters" in the guise of "freedom of navigation" in recent years. More than 700 patrols were conducted by US vessels and aircraft in the South China Sea region in the past year, according to a report by the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS). As the US never ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), its claims of protecting "freedom of navigation" is rather hollow. 

In fact it is the US breaking international law when US warships intrude into China's territorial sea under the pretext of defending freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. It's an admitted fact that the United States is not a party to the South China Sea issue. So as a third party, the US has no right to get involved in the South China Sea dispute.

At present, in the 21st century, China is a dominant naval power in Asia. But China is not a security threat to regional stability. China's actions in the South China Sea are reasonable and fair. On the other hand, the long-standing US policy on the South China Sea issue openly challenges China's sovereignty claims in the region. The United States' real concern is that China might challenge its supremacy in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. It's worth noting that recently the US military has sent a US Navy carrier strike group, including the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, an entire destroyer squadron, and an additional Arleigh Burke class destroyer, to undermine China's sovereignty and security in the name of the freedom of navigation and overflight. In the face of US military operations in the South China Sea, China has naturally taken "an increasingly hard-line stance" on its territorial disputes in safeguarding freedom of navigation and stability in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

It should be noted here that the United States has conducted a series of military operations under the cloak of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea in recent years, violating not only China's domestic law, but also international law. It is not China but the US has been "militarizing" the waters of the South China Sea since 2015. The US has also added more wood to the fire by encouraging its allies Japan and Australia to patrol in the South China Sea. By trying to fish in the troubled waters of the South China Sea, it has instigated the Philippines and Vietnam to provoke China. To some extent, in carrying out the freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, the United States is helping its allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific region, such as South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam. However, the Philippines has decided to shelve their maritime disputes in the South China Sea. It is reported that during the 20th diplomatic consultation between the two countries in January this year, China and the Philippines agreed to set up a bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea issue to discuss issues of common concern and foster maritime cooperation and security. 

The South China Sea, as the name indicates, is a sea area that belongs to China. China's Nanhai Zhudao (the South China Sea Islands) consists of Dongsha Qundao (the Dongsha Islands), Xisha Qundao (the Xisha Islands), Zhongsha Qundao (the Zhongsha Islands) and Nansha Qundao (the Nansha Islands). In the course of history, the successive Chinese governments have established sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao and relevant rights and interests in the South China Sea in a continuous, peaceful and effective manner.  It is a bridge of communication and a bond of peace, friendship, cooperation and development between China and its coastal neighbors. China has the historic rights to conduct "normal activities" in its own sovereign zone. It is not prohibited by any international law. China's reclamation work in the South China Sea will facilitate, not jeopardize, navigation. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, "I want to reiterate that China building facilities, including deploying necessary and appropriate national defense installations in its own territory, is exercising our sovereign right recognized by international law." China has always managed the South China Sea issue with a constructive attitude in order to guarantee regional peace and stability. It is anticipated that the United States should respect the facts, speak and act cautiously to avoid harming the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

The United States needs to study history. China's sovereignty and relevant rights over the South China Sea have been formed over the long course of history and upheld by successive Chinese governments. The activities of the Chinese people in the South China Sea date back to over 2,000 years ago. China is the first to have discovered, named, and explored and exploited Nanhai Zhudao and relevant waters, and the first to have exercised sovereignty and jurisdiction over them continuously, peacefully and effectively, thus establishing territorial sovereignty and relevant rights and interests in the South China Sea. Since its founding on 1 October 1949, the People's Republic of China has been firm in upholding China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. A series of legal instruments, such as the 1958 Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China on China's Territorial Sea, the 1992 Law of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, the 1998 Law of the People's Republic of China on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf and the 1996 Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on the Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), have further reaffirmed China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.

All along the US is a "troublemaker", overstating differences or even sowing the discord in the South China Sea region. The US navy patrol in waters under Chinese jurisdiction was "motivated by a desire to see the world in chaos." The US military has carried out at least four "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea in recent years. The USS Lassen illegally entered waters near relevant islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands without the permission of the Chinese government on October 27, 2015. The US intrusion within 12 nautical miles of the Nansha Islands was obviously an abuse of the rules on freedom of navigation under international law. Last year in October, a US Navy destroyer USS Decatur conducted a so-called "freedom of navigation" near Chinese "territorial waters". This is serious illegal behavior, and is intentionally provocative behavior. No doubt, the new Trump administration is 'playing with fire' in South China Sea. The US deployed the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the waters of the South China Sea in the guise of maritime "routine operations" on February 18, 2017. It is a serious provocation, both politically and militarily, that the US sent naval vessels to waters near relevant islands and reefs of China's own territory only to escalate tension and to militarize the region. Freedom of navigation does not give one country's military aircraft and ships free access to another country's territorial waters and airspace.

 But the United States' military prowess is not a true show of strength and it would not scare China. A few words of President Xi Jinping's remarks deserve to be quoted here:"No foreign country... should expect us to swallow the bitter pill of harm to our national sovereignty, security or development interests." In an apparent stab at the US, President Xi said: "We will not show up at other people's front doors to flex our muscles. That does not show strength or scare anyone."

China respects and upholds the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, which countries enjoy in accordance with international law, but firmly opposes any country's attempt to undermine China's sovereignty and security in the name of the freedom of navigation and overflight. China has always maintained that the South China Sea issue should be peacefully resolved on the basis of respecting historical facts and in accordance with international law. As the largest trading nation, China cares about the safety and freedom of navigation in the region more than anyone else. China has never impaired the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea that has been enjoyed by other countries in accordance with the international law, and will never do so. China adheres to peaceful development. However, it is also steadfast in safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and security as well as lawful and justified maritime rights and interests, and will firmly respond to any deliberate provocation by any country.

It is ridiculous that as a nation outside the region, the US administration accuses China of endangering freedom of navigation in the South China Sea over the years, but instead of providing evidence to prove its point, it only keeps harping on the same string that China's island and reef construction in the South China Sea is illegal. The words and deeds of the United States in the South China Sea are a violation of the principle of estoppel in international law and destabilizing to the relationship with China. As a third party, the US has no right to tell China what to do in its own territorial waters. The US government should admit this truth that construction by the Chinese side on its own territory is in the realm of China's sovereignty. It does not target nor affect any country, and has not and will not have any impact on the freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea to which all countries are entitled under international law. 

Trump and his team's "provocative and chaotic approach" on several issues have already derailed the big picture of China-US relations. The US military activities in the South China Sea infringe on Chinese sovereignty. It is clear that in the name of safeguarding freedom of navigation and international justice, the US is actually engaged in hegemony and power politics against China, inviting crises, and convincing the rest of the world that the United States is an "unreliable partner".

China, on the other hand, firmly upholds freedom of navigation as a principle in compliance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as early as 1998 in its Law on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf. China wants to help its neighbours grow and develop. In the words of Chinese President Xi Jinping, "China also sticks to peaceful settlement of disputes through consultation and negotiation with parties directly concerned, and safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea along with ASEAN member states."

The US politicians should admit this fact that since the end of the Cold War, in spite of having the strongest military and largest economy in the world, the United States is not the sole superpower to dictate terms to China. China will never compromise on its sovereignty in the South China Sea. With a population of over 1.3 billion, its incredible economic and technological development, its nuclear-armed military strength, vast production system, China has the ability to safeguard its state sovereignty and its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. We hope that as a non-regional country, the United States under the Trump presidency should respect China's sovereignty and relevant rights over the South China Sea the sooner the better.

Rabi Sankar Bosu

Secretary

New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club

West Bengal, India