South China Sea /3

The China-Philippines South China Sea dispute
July 12, 2016: The Permanent Court of Arbitration rules that China has no legal basis for claiming much of the South China Sea and had aggravated the regional dispute with its land reclamation and construction of artificial islands that destroyed coral reefs and the natural condition of the disputed areas. The Philippines, which sought the arbitration ruling, welcomed the decision, and China rejected it outright.

15 July
How Beijing’s islands of control are reshaping the South China Sea
Ten years after the Hague’s landmark tribunal ruling, Beijing’s island-building strategy has effectively eclipsed the 2016 decision, observers say
(SCMP) A decade after Beijing rejected the ruling by The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration on its South China Sea claims, rival nations continue to manoeuvre for control. In the third of our series on the anniversary, Laura Zhou looks at why the gap between international law and geopolitical reality on the water has never been wider.

14 July
India reiterates support for rules-based maritime order in South China Sea
China, however, rejected the ruling once again, maintaining that it is “null and void” and has “no binding force.”

12 July
US, UK and 12 other nations reaffirm 2016 ruling invalidating China’s claims in South China Sea
(ABC news) The United States, United Kingdom and a dozen other Western and Asian countries reasserted on Sunday that China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea are illegal based on a 2016 arbitration ruling.
A joint statement issued by the nations said they rejected “destabilizing” actions in the disputed waters that threaten regional peace.
The announcement commemorated a July 12, 2016, arbitration ruling by a tribunal established in The Hague under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, saying the landmark decision is “a significant milestone and is final, legally binding and definitive.”
China refused to join the arbitration initiated by the Philippines in 2013 after a tense standoff in the contested waters a year earlier that ended with Beijing effectively seizing a disputed shoal.
Beijing rejected the 2016 ruling and continues to defend its claims to virtually the entire sea passage, a key global trade route that has long been feared as one of Asia’ most active flashpoints. The areas has been the scene of repeated territorial standoffs involving China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Beijing hits out as US-led coalition marks 10th anniversary of South China Sea ruling
US-led moves ‘primary threat’ to peace, China says in fiery statement asserting ‘historic rights’ to contested waters
Beijing has cast US-led military deployments as the “primary threat” to peace in the South China Sea, hitting back at a multinational declaration that marked the 10th anniversary of an arbitral ruling it does not recognise.
In a strongly worded statement on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asserted China’s “historic rights” while condemning “militarising and coercive behaviour” from the US and its allies as the “foremost challenge currently facing the South China Sea”.

8 July
Beijing slams Manila over South China Sea claims ahead of 2016 Hague anniversary
Philippines’ claims lack historical and legal basis, state-affiliated think tank says in another critique of maritime dispute
(SCMP) Beijing has issued a lengthy critique of the Philippines’ territorial claims in the South China Sea, condemning its actions as “unlawful” expansions that pose a “grave threat” to the post-war global order.
Wednesday’s report by a Ministry of Natural Resources think tank – its third within days – marks the latest move in China’s campaign to reinforce its position in the disputed waters.
The push underlines Beijing’s rejection of the Philippines’ stance just days before the 10th anniversary of a landmark international tribunal ruling that invalidated key elements of China’s claims. China did not take part in the arbitration and does not recognise the ruling.

25 June
US shifts South China Sea reconnaissance towards drones and Philippines: think tank
Reliance on close-in aerial reconnaissance over contested waters comes as large American vessels face growing constraints
US “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea declined last year, as it relied more on the Philippines and uncrewed drones for reconnaissance flights over the contested waters, a Beijing-based think tank found.
The think tank said that as large American vessels such as aircraft carriers and amphibious groups faced growing maintenance and deployment constraints such as the Middle East conflict, Washington had changed the nature of its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Yet, the region remained a priority, the Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative said in a report released on Thursday.

10 June
“Mackinder Shmackinder: Why the Central Pacific is America’s Real Geographical Pivot of History” (YouTube)
Cleo Paskal, The Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Includes sections on why the U.S. should have 3.5 different (though overlapping) strategies in the Pacific Islands, what’s going on in Yap (including update from Woleai), and how the U.S. has been working on ‘block and build’ in the region.
Abstract
“When the Spanish war broke out, Dewey was at Hongkong, and I ordered him to go to Manila and to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet; and he had to because, if defeated, he had no place to refit on that side of the globe, and if the Dons were victorious they would likely cross the Pacific and ravage our Oregon and California coasts. And so he had to destroy the Spanish fleet and did it! But that was as far as I thought then.”
For over 120 years, American leaders have known that if a hostile foreign power controlled the Pacific, and especially the Central Pacific (the Spanish Pacific colonies stretched into the center of the Pacific), the mainland of the United States wasn’t safe. The first countries of concern were European, then Imperial Japan, then the Soviet Union and now China.

2024

16 August
China vows ‘strong measures’ against Philippines over encroaching ships in South China Sea
Sabina Shoal is latest flashpoint between Beijing and Manila as foreign ministry decries ‘infringing behaviour’

2021

22 November
China-Philippines clash in South China Sea could draw in US
A recent maritime incident is a warning that the US must be cautious in how it honors its defense commitments to Manila
by Mark Valencia
(Asia Times) Concerned by the Biden administration’s continuation of former US president Donald Trump’s military-first approach to its South China Sea issues with China, I have sketched out a scenario in which the two are dragged into a kinetic conflict via the 1951 US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).
The scenario is that an element of the Philippines military – possibly rogue – provokes a clash with China’s military. The Philippines demands that the US honor its commitment to come to its defense. The US then has to choose between conflict with China or losing its credibility in the region.
This hasn’t happened yet. But it darn near just did – and may yet become reality.

31 July
British navy ‘shows global ambitions’ with aircraft carrier’s South China Sea mission
HMS Queen Elizabeth and its strike group venture into contested waters in show of support for US efforts to contain China, analyst says
But the forces have been careful to not make one move that would antagonise Beijing
(SCMP) The presence of Britain’s new aircraft carrier and scheduled permanent deployment of two warships to Asia reflects the country’s ambition to become a major global player and its commitment to US plans to contain China, according to military analysts.
HMS Queen Elizabeth and its strike group are in the South China Sea for freedom of navigation exercises and a series of military drills with a number of other countries in the region.
The warships left Britain two months ago and are on a 42,000km (26,000-mile) mission that will continue until the end of the year.

9 July
Five years after South China Sea ruling, China’s presence around Philippines only growing
(Reuters) Five years after a landmark international arbitration court ruling [Tribunal Issues Landmark Ruling in South China Sea Arbitration] repudiated China’s claims to the waters…encounters with Chinese boats are more frequent than ever.
China’s foreign ministry reiterated on Friday that Beijing did not accept the ruling nor any claims or actions based on it. China lays claim to most of the waters within a so-called Nine Dash Line, which is also contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The country has made 128 diplomatic protests over China’s activities in contested waters since 2016, and coast guard and bureau of fisheries vessels have conducted “sovereign” patrols in the Philippines’ EEZ.

9 April
China drills in disputed South China Sea as US naval patrol grows
Chinese scientists on a marine research vessel carry out the drill in unnamed location as US amphibious assault ships head to the region.
(Al Jazeera) China has drilled deep in the South China Sea to retrieve sediment core from the seabed, state media has reported, amid tensions over disputed waters with rival claimants Taiwan and the Philippines, as the United States increases its naval presence in the region.
… The system can help explore natural gas hydrate resources in the seabed, Xinhua added, referring to the solid ice-like crystals formed from a mixture of methane and water that are touted as a promising source of energy.

21 March
South China Sea: alarm in Philippines as 200 Chinese vessels gather at disputed reef
Philippines defence chief says vessels at Whitsun reef are manned by militias rather than fishermen, and accuses Beijing of ‘provocation’
A government watchdog overseeing the disputed region said about 220 Chinese vessels were seen moored at Whitsun reef, which Beijing also claims, on 7 March. It released pictures of the vessels side by side in one of the most contested areas of the strategic waterway.
The foreign secretary, Teodoro Locsin, said late on Sunday that the Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest over the Chinese presence.
The reef, which Manila calls Julian Felipe, is a boomerang-shaped, shallow coral region about 175 nautical miles (324km) west of Bataraza town in the western Philippine province of Palawan. It is well within the country’s exclusive economic zone, over which the Philippines “enjoys the exclusive right to exploit or conserve any resources”, the government watchdog said.

20 February
US warns Beijing against using force in South China Sea
State department concerned by new laws that authorise Chinese coastguard to use weapons against foreign ships

25 January
China to conduct military drills in South China Sea amid tensions with U.S.
(Reuters) – China said on Tuesday it will conduct military exercises in the South China Sea this week, just days after Beijing bristled at a U.S. aircraft carrier group’s entry into the disputed waters.
A notice issued by the country’s Maritime Safety Administration prohibited entry into a portion of waters in the Gulf of Tonkin to the west of the Leizhou peninsula in southwestern China from Jan. 27 to Jan. 30, but it did not offer details on when the drills would take place or at what scale.