The Chinese and U.S. navies were due to hold high-level talks over tension in the South China Sea after a USA warship challenged Beijing’s territorial assertions in the disputed waters.
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On October 26, the American missile destroyer Lassen sailed within 12 miles of a Chinese-built artificial island called Subi Reef, in the South China Sea.
The court said in a statement that it rejected the argument by China that the “dispute is actually about sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and therefore beyond the tribunal’s jurisdiction”. The tribunal is now expected to examine the Philippines’ submissions including one into the validity of China’s claim to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, based on a nine-dash line drawn on a 1947 map for which it gives no precise coordinates.
The Philippines brought its disagreements with China to worldwide arbitration in January 2013, a year after Chinese coast guard ships took effective control of the disputed Scarborough Shoal following a tense standoff with Filipino ships. The root of the problem lies in China’s unilateral claim of sovereignty on the whole of South China Sea – a claim which has been strongly opposed by neighbouring countries like Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and India.
USA chief of naval operations Admiral John Richardson and his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Wu Shengli, discussed “freedom of navigation operations, the relationship between the two navies including pending port visits, senior leader engagement and the importance of maintaining an ongoing dialogue”, a Pentagon spokesman said.
“It would be more effective to demonstrate broader worldwide concerns if Australia were to assert freedom of navigation under its own political and operational banner and not to ride USA coat-tails”, he said.
Last week, China’s Rear Admiral Yang Yi promised a “head on blow” if the U.S. challenged its territorial claim, which no other nation in the region accepts. China’s reaction fits the pattern in similar such incidents in recent years.
It is absurd for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to oppose the USA naval action by saying, “We urge the USA side to think twice, not to take rash moves and stir up trouble”.
China’s presence in the South China Sea has grown steadily, regional naval officers say, reflecting an expansion of the South Sea Fleet and the merging of various law enforcement agencies into a unified coastguard. The Philippines and Australia have also hailed the latest US action.
In an actual conflict, the U.S. technological advantage could be crucial, but China’s numerical superiority had to be taken into account, particularly in any stand-off at sea, security experts said.
Yang Yujun, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defence said:”Here, I “d like to reiterate that China has always been respectful towards the other countries” freedom of navigation and overflight according to the global laws”.
“If you’re in the South China Sea, you can expect to be shadowed”.
Admiral Harry Harris of the U.S. Pacific Command minced no words in his appraisal of the South China Sea to the Senate Armed Service Committee in September.
“It’s hard to see either side backing down”.
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“The attempts to attain more illegal interests by initiating arbitration unilaterally is impractical and will lead nowhere”, said Zhu Haiquan, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
