Why the South China Sea is fueling US-China tensions

1. Where is the South China Sea?

Stretching from China in the north to Indonesia in the south, the waterway covers 1.4 million square miles (3.6 million square kilometers), making it larger than the Mediterranean Sea. To the west, it affects Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, and the Philippines and Brunei to the east. It is a thriving fishing area – which accounts for about 10% of the world’s catch – and holds promising reserves of oil and natural gas. Much of the trade transits through its waters. In 2016, this represented some $ 3 trillion, of which more than 30% of world trade in maritime crude oil.

2. Why is this such a point of contention?

There are conflicting claims on the rocks, reefs and islands therein. China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea and supports its claim with a 1947 map showing vague dashes – the so-called nine-dash line — looping to a point about 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) south of his island of Hainan. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same maritime area and have fought with China for which claims are valid under the known United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea under the name of Unclos. The countries concerned have been working on a code of conduct to resolve the clashes in the South China Sea, although talks have dragged on for more than a decade.

3. Where did China build?

China has recovered some 3,200 acres (1,290 hectares) of land from seven reefs or rocks in the Spratly Archipelago. It built ports, lighthouses and runways there and installed missile batteries and other military equipment. Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the time in the United States. President Barack Obama said in 2015 that China did not intend to militarize the structures. Whenever the installation of new equipment is revealed, the Chinese Foreign Ministry says so for defense purposes.

4. What are the United States saying?

The United States does not take a position on competing claims. But the U.S. Navy regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations, called Fonops, by sending warships and planes near disputed waters to demonstrate the right to travel through what it considers to be waters and airspace. international. The United States made eight Fonops announced in 2019 and four already in the first four months of 2020. That compares to a total of four in eight years under Obama, according to Ian Storey, principal investigator at the ISEAS-Yusof Institute. Ishak from Singapore. .

5. How has the international community responded?

An international arbitration group in The Hague denied China’s claims in 2016. It ruled that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to the resources in the seas in the line of the nine dashes. He also found that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, artificial islands – such as those built by China – do not generate maritime rights or areas of sovereignty. The case was brought by the Philippines. China refused to participate in the arbitration, saying the panel did not have jurisdiction. But it is Vietnam’s voice that has risen the strongest in recent years amid repeated provocations, including the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat near the disputed Paracel Islands in April.

6. Why are people worried?

The number of laps is increasing. Pentagon official accused China in May of harassing the destroyer U.S.S. Mustin while patrolling the South China Sea and cited at least nine cases of Chinese fighter planes doing the same with American reconnaissance planes. The Chinese Defense Ministry said its navy had expelled a US missile destroyer from the sea on April 28, saying it had violated Chinese territory. With President Donald Trump months away from the election and President Xi Jinping shaking nationalist cages at home to distract from a hurt economy, the mood is less conducive to the prudent diplomacy necessary to defuse an impasse at sea.

7. What do the United States and China say about these incidents?

A White House report in May accused China of engaging in provocative and coercive military activity in regions such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. US Vice President Mike Pence has said the navy will continue to fly, navigate and operate where international law allows and in accordance with our national interests. Before announcing his resignation in December, Defense Secretary James Mattis said Beijing would face greater long-term consequences for militarizing the waters, which could persuade it to change course. China responded to Fonops by saying that the United States was violating its sovereignty, and in May it indirectly accused the United States of flexing muscle in an effort to sow discord between China and the Asian nations. South East.

David Tweed contributed to an earlier version of this article.