U.S. lawmakers urge tough stance on China sea claims
WORLD JAN. 15, 2014
WASHINGTON
The United States must not tolerate China’s use of military coercion in pursuit of its territorial claims in the seas of East Asia, lawmakers said at a hearing Tuesday, where experts warned that Beijing’s assertiveness is unnerving its neighbors and challenges American security interests.
Separately, the Philippine envoy to Washington complained about China’s “aggression” and urged Vietnam, another claimant state in the South China Sea, to follow the Philippines in mounting an international legal challenge to Beijing’s expansive claims.
China’s recent declaration of an air defense zone over disputed islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea, and its new rules to regulate fishing in a huge tranche of the South China Sea, have deepened concerns that its rise as a regional power could spark a confrontation.
House lawmakers overseeing U.S. policy toward Asia and America’s use of sea-power held a joint hearing to consider Washington’s response, amid worries that U.S. may be drawn into a crisis or conflict over a territorial dispute involving China because the U.S. has bilateral defense treaties with Japan and the Philippines.
Republican Rep. Steve Chabot called China “dangerously aggressive” and said it was attempting to take disputed territories by gradual force with the “misguided hope that Japan, Southeast Asian nations and the U.S. will just grudgingly accept it.”
Democratic Rep. Ami Bera called for a strong, bipartisan message from Congress that China’s “threatening and provocative moves to assert their maritime territorial claims are unacceptable.”
Republican Rep. Randy Forbes said the U.S. must be “100 percent intolerant of China’s territorial claims and its continued resort to forms of military coercion to alter the status quo in the region.”
Lawmakers typically take a more uncompromising stance on foreign policy than the administration. But their opinions reflect widespread concern in Washington about China’s intentions as it challenges decades of American military pre-eminence in Asia, and its adherence to international law.
China unilaterally declared its air defense zone over parts of the East China Sea in late November, requiring foreign aircraft to submit flight plans to Chinese authorities and accept instructions from the Chinese military. The U.S. responded by flying B-52 bombers through the zone, to show it didn’t recognize it. The State Department last week also criticized the new Chinese regulations on fishing in the South China Sea as “provocative and potentially dangerous.”
China maintains that it has peaceful intentions and it wants the U.S. to stay out of territorial disputes in which it has no claim.
The U.S., however, says it has an interest in freedom of navigation and commerce through the Asia-Pacific. Despite America’s huge national debt, the Obama administration wants to boost the U.S. military presence in the region and recently announced tens of millions of dollars in new security assistance to Vietnam and the Philippines.
Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the U.S. response to China’s coercion will be a key measure of the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s policy shift toward Asia and how countries there assess its staying power in the region, she said.
Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. told reporters in Washington late Monday that the Manila wants good relations with Beijing, but called it “unacceptable” that China is preventing Philippine fishermen from operating inside parts of its own exclusive economic zone, or EEZ. That is the 200-nautical-mile (370-kilometer) offshore area where a nation has sovereign rights for exploring and exploiting resources.
Cuisia said to avoid a potential confrontation, the Philippines has told fishermen to avoid seas covered by China’s new fishing regulations, pending clarification from Beijing on what they entail.
The Philippines has antagonized Beijing by bringing a case challenging China’s claim to virtually all of the South China Sea to a U.N. arbitration tribunal. Cuisia called it a “legitimate and friendly” way to resolve a dispute, and when asked, supported the idea of Vietnam taking the same approach.
China is refusing to participate in the arbitration.
While most lawmakers at Tuesday’s hearing were strongly supportive of the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific, Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman was skeptical. He complained that the U.S. was plowing huge resources into confronting China and helping defend the territorial claims of nations like Japan that allot a far smaller proportion of their own budgets to defense.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
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S China Sea rules no threat to peace, experts say
2014-01-15 China Daily
Web Editor: Wang Fan
China's amendments to its fishing rules aim to enhance management of its administrative waters in the South China Sea, and will not hamper freedom of navigation or regional security, observers said.
"The concepts of the South China Sea — international waters and waters under Chinese jurisdiction vary in terms of their implications," said Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
The South China Sea covers 3.55 million square km, while China exercises jurisdiction over about 2 million square km of it, Wu said.
"It is natural that coastal provinces forge local regulations in line with state laws to develop and protect biological resources in governed waters," he said.
Since Jan 1, new fishing rules in Hainan province require foreign vessels entering its administrative waters for fishing or related surveys to seek permission from departments under the State Council.
The rules allow confiscation of catches and fishing equipment as well as fines of up to 500,000 yuan ($82,800). Those who commit crimes will be investigated.
Wu said China's claim — defined by the South China Sea "nine-dash line"— was established long before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea took effect. In accordance with the intertemporal law, the nine-dash line should be recognized by the international community, Wu said.
"The waters that China claims had been under Chinese jurisdiction long before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was established (in 1982), and therefore should be taken into consideration," he added.
The Foreign Ministry and Hainan officials said the new rules protect local fisheries resources. Calling the rules routine for an ocean state, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the goal is to strengthen the security of fisheries resources.
Li Guoqiang, a research of Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the rules, created with the purpose of managing fisheries production, do not target any specific country, so they will not challenge free navigation in the area.
"The new regulation contains 41 articles, most of which prescribe requirements for domestic fishing activities. Only one article applies to foreign incomers, and it conforms with international law," Li said. "Therefore, allegations calling the law a threat to regional stability are totally groundless."
The new rules, approved in late November, drew immediate criticism from some other countries in the area, including Vietnam and the Philippines.
Manila said on Friday that the rules "escalates tensions, unnecessarily complicates the situation in the South China Sea, and threatens regional peace and stability". Hanoi also voiced opposition, urging Beijing to abolish the "illegal" rules.
Experts said that despite China's restraint and constructive attitude to facilitating dialogue, the situation in the South China Sea is complicated by certain countries' uncooperative stances along with increasing intervention from Washington.
On Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the South China Sea fishing rules are "provocative and potentially dangerous". Japan continued the criticism on Sunday, with Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera saying the rules left the international community jittery.
Zhuang Guotu, director of the Southeast Asian Center at Xiamen University, said the regulation is only a timely revision of China's fisheries law, which has been in effect since 1986, and that other countries have no right to criticize it.
The fact that Washington and Tokyo have recently complained about a Chinese regulation that has been in place for decades is only a continuation of their usual practice of treating China as a threat, Zhuang said.
"The US, in the Western Hemisphere, came to judge China's policies in the South China Sea, but the fact is, China never set barriers for safe passage in international waters while the White House never has given a reasonable explanation for its military presence in the region," he added.
China's amendments to its fishing rules aim to enhance management of its administrative waters in the South China Sea, and will not hamper freedom of navigation or regional security, observers said.
"The concepts of the South China Sea — international waters and waters under Chinese jurisdiction vary in terms of their implications," said Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
The South China Sea covers 3.55 million square km, while China exercises jurisdiction over about 2 million square km of it, Wu said.
"It is natural that coastal provinces forge local regulations in line with state laws to develop and protect biological resources in governed waters," he said.
Since Jan 1, new fishing rules in Hainan province require foreign vessels entering its administrative waters for fishing or related surveys to seek permission from departments under the State Council.
The rules allow confiscation of catches and fishing equipment as well as fines of up to 500,000 yuan ($82,800). Those who commit crimes will be investigated.
Wu said China's claim — defined by the South China Sea "nine-dash line"— was established long before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea took effect. In accordance with the intertemporal law, the nine-dash line should be recognized by the international community, Wu said.
"The waters that China claims had been under Chinese jurisdiction long before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was established (in 1982), and therefore should be taken into consideration," he added.
The Foreign Ministry and Hainan officials said the new rules protect local fisheries resources. Calling the rules routine for an ocean state, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the goal is to strengthen the security of fisheries resources.
Li Guoqiang, a research of Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the rules, created with the purpose of managing fisheries production, do not target any specific country, so they will not challenge free navigation in the area.
"The new regulation contains 41 articles, most of which prescribe requirements for domestic fishing activities. Only one article applies to foreign incomers, and it conforms with international law," Li said. "Therefore, allegations calling the law a threat to regional stability are totally groundless."
The new rules, approved in late November, drew immediate criticism from some other countries in the area, including Vietnam and the Philippines.
Manila said on Friday that the rules "escalates tensions, unnecessarily complicates the situation in the South China Sea, and threatens regional peace and stability". Hanoi also voiced opposition, urging Beijing to abolish the "illegal" rules.
Experts said that despite China's restraint and constructive attitude to facilitating dialogue, the situation in the South China Sea is complicated by certain countries' uncooperative stances along with increasing intervention from Washington.
On Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the South China Sea fishing rules are "provocative and potentially dangerous". Japan continued the criticism on Sunday, with Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera saying the rules left the international community jittery.
Zhuang Guotu, director of the Southeast Asian Center at Xiamen University, said the regulation is only a timely revision of China's fisheries law, which has been in effect since 1986, and that other countries have no right to criticize it.
The fact that Washington and Tokyo have recently complained about a Chinese regulation that has been in place for decades is only a continuation of their usual practice of treating China as a threat, Zhuang said.
"The US, in the Western Hemisphere, came to judge China's policies in the South China Sea, but the fact is, China never set barriers for safe passage in international waters while the White House never has given a reasonable explanation for its military presence in the region," he added.
14 January 2014
Shift as Vietnam marks South China Sea battle
By Nga PhamBBC News
Forty years ago dozens of Vietnamese soldiers were killed in a bloody battle with Chinese troops over disputed islands in the South China Sea.
This year, for the first time, Vietnam's state media is publicly marking the event, printing numerous articles on the battle.
The move comes in the month that the Chinese government published new rules requiring foreign fishing vessels to seek Beijing's permission to operate in most of the South China Sea - an action likely to further raise anti-China rhetoric in the Vietnamese press.
Prior to the battle, Vietnam had controlled some islands within the Paracel archipelago (Xisha in Chinese) and China had controlled others. Both sides claimed them in full, as did Taiwan.
On 19 January 1974 a clash erupted between the South Vietnamese navy and Chinese forces.
Three of the four Vietnamese warships had to retreat while the fourth sunk with its captain on board.
As a result, China gained control over the entire group of islands, now part its newly-established Sansha prefecture.
The current government renewed Vietnam's claim to the Paracels (Hoang Sa in Vietnamese) after the Vietnam war ended, but to date has rarely mentioned the 1974 naval clash. The event is not even included in modern history textbooks.
Up to 1975 the Paracel archipelago was claimed by the US-backed Saigon government. At the time Hanoi did not protest China's occupation of the islands nor - for a long time - recognise the South Vietnamese soldiers' loss of life - because they were considered by the communist North to be an enemy army.
Continue reading the main story
Paracel Islands
Called Xisha in Chinese, Hoang Sa in Vietnamese
Claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam
More than 30 islands and reefs, including two main groups: the Amphitrite group and the Crescent group
Woody (Yongxing) Island, the largest island in the archipelago, now hosts the City of Sansha with a small community of fishermen, civil servants and soldiers
Vietnam maintains 'historical claims' to the Paracels without physical presence there
It controlled several islands within the Crescent group, where it had a weather station, until 1974, when after a brief but bloody clash China gained control over the entire archipelago
But historian Nguyen Nha, who specialises in South China Sea issues, says things have now changed.
"We have to realise that there are no more North and South, we're all Vietnamese. Politics come and go, but historical facts remain."
This change of heart is clearly visible in Vietnamese media.
National newspapers like Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre have in recent weeks been running a series of reports including detailed accounts by witnesses on how the Paracels were taken by China by force and descriptions of heroic actions by South Vietnamese sailors.
Public meetings have been held to commemorate the battle and there are calls to recognise the "martyrdom" of the fallen soldiers and offer support to their families.
'Historical facts'
Just months ago, such moves would have been unheard of. The authorities in Hanoi have been extremely careful not to offend Vietnam's giant neighbour - and are also fully aware that nationalist sentiment can get out of hand.
Anti-China protests in which participants have shouted slogans such as "The Paracels belong to Vietnam" have been quickly dispersed in the past.
As Vietnamese media remains tightly controlled by the Communist Party, the green light to address the issue of the battle may have come from above.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung reportedly told a meeting with leading Vietnamese historians at the end of December that the government was planning activities to commemorate the 1974 event, as well as the 1979 border war with China.
He also urged to include "these historical facts" in school textbooks.
Emeritus Professor Carlyle Thayer from the University of New South Wales in Australia says raising the profile of the 1974 conflict "has more to do with shoring up domestic legitimacy by undercutting the overseas Vietnamese supporters of the Saigon regime who, of course, memorialise this battle".
Ho Van Ky Thoai, a former rear admiral in the Saigon navy and one of the commanders of the 1974 battle who now resides in the United States, agrees there has been "a shift in the Vietnamese government's approach to the subject".
"They have come to realise the clear danger of being swallowed by China. Unfortunately, it is years too late," he said, adding that the best the Vietnamese government could do is to quickly give the South Vietnamese soldiers the highest recognition they deserved.
Sceptics also point out that this might be just a patriotic card cleverly played by Vietnamese leaders to distract the public from problems such as the economy and rampant corruption.
Some of the largest corruption trials involving high-ranking party officials are slated to take place this month, and as the Lunar New Year approaches complaints about living standards are once again surfacing.
But for many this new move is an indication of Vietnam's attempt to consolidate its territorial claims in the face of China's increasingly assertive activities in the South China Sea.
"Vietnamese people are facing a danger of aggression and humiliation [by China] like never before in the South China Sea," warns historian Nguyen Nha.
New fishing rules by China that took effect on 1 January require foreign fishing ships to obtain approval to enter waters it has placed under the jurisdiction of the Hainan provincial government, including those surrounding the Paracels.
Experts say the rules are likely to create incidents with Vietnamese fishermen who consider the waters around the islands their traditional fishing grounds and regularly accuse Chinese authorities of harassment.
Vietnamese media have raised the tone of their reports on China's new fishing regulation, which Hanoi has called "illegal and invalid".
But "it is the reported instigation of Vietnamese authorities encouraging Vietnamese fishermen to fish in the waters around the Paracels that could lead to conflict", warns Prof Thayer.
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Cùng ký tên phản đối Trung Quốc 40 năm đánh chiếm Hoàng Sa
http://www.voatiengviet.com/
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Người Việt ký thư yêu cầu đưa tranh chấp Hoàng Sa ra tòa quốc tế(NTB st)
