China and Japan Territorial Dispute in East China Sea: a Flash Point in the Pacific

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The uninhabited islets of East China Sea are another flash point east of the Pacific Ocean. China, Japan and Taiwan are involved in dispute over conflicting claims on chain of islands called Senkaku by the Japanese and Diaoyu by the Chinese.  China also claims ownership and sovereignty over Spratly’s group of islands at the South China Sea which is also contested by the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

Early in August 2012, a group of 14 residents from Hong Kong and mainland China travelled by fishing boat and landed in one of the islands at Diaoyu. Japanese authorities then arrested and deported them. Later, a group of Japanese activists on a flotilla of 150 people went to the Japanese controlled Diaoyu group of islands. Ten of them swam ashore and raised the Japanese flag on one of the Islands on August 19. 2012. Although that move was not sanctioned by the Japanese government, it nevertheless sparked a nationwide protest in China.

The tense situation came to a head when Japan announced that it bought some of the islands at Diaoyu from their private owner at 26 million dollars. This infuriated China and President Hu Jintao warned that the move was invalid and illegal. In relation to the Japanese action, the Chinese took to the streets in the cities of Guanzhou, Wenzhou, Shanghai and other cities, and attacked some Japanese-owned business establishments. The protesters also threatened to boycott Japanese-made products and establishments. The situation forced the Japanese companies such as Panasonic, Toyota and others to temporarily suspend their operations.  

Taiwan joined the fray by sending 50 fishing vessels escorted by patrol ships to Diaoyu Islands. They were intercepted by Japanese coast guard ships which fired water cannon into the vessels. The Taiwanese patrol ships retaliated by also firing their water cannon into the Japanese ships. It was fortunate that the drama ended with neither side firing real ammunition.

Lately, China bought from Ukraine and put into service its first ever aircraft carrier joining the exclusive clubs of ten countries with active aircraft carriers. Christened Liaoning, the aircraft carrier can hold 30 fixed wing fighters which is way below the capacity of the much larger Nimitz class aircraft carrier of the US that can carry around 90 aircrafts. China is adding to its fleet six more aircraft carriers that are still in the process of construction.  From all indications, China aims to become the most dominant military power in the region.

Engaging in armed confrontation with Japan and even with the weaker countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines is not the best way for China to project itself as an emerging world power because it owes its prosperity with its trading with the west, Japan and other countries that are allied to the United States. Moreover, Japan like the Philippines has an outstanding mutual defense treaty with the United States. The treaties call for mutual military assistance in the event of an attack by another country. The United States confirmed that the islands disputed by Japan and China are covered by its security treaty with Japan.                                               

For China, Japan, unlike any other claimants of the disputed groups of island east of the Pacific is no pushover. Japan was once a world military power with a history of occupying China, and its economy at present is one of the largest and the strongest in the world. It is also one of the leading countries in the world with access to most advanced and sophisticated technologies that may include weapons. An armed confrontation between Japan and China may probably end in stalemate with Japan gaining the political advantage.

Despite their differences, Japan and China need each other to sustain their economic growth. China, a prosperous country with a very large population is a very big market for the Japanese to ignore. On the part of China, Japan is one of its largest trading partners.

Most of the Islands and islets in the disputed seas are barren.  However, the seas have great economic and strategic significance. The South and East China seas are trade route of about 5 trillion dollars worth of goods. They are a rich fishing area and are also believed to sit in huge deposits of oil and natural gas.

Barring substantial find of oil and natural gas deposits on or at the disputed group of islands; China, Japan, Taiwan and especially the weaker countries would not initiate move that would start a full blown war because their economic interest and well being would be adversely affected. Claimant countries may have a distrust or animosity to one another.  And isolated cases of armed clashes may arise from their dispute, but they may avoid resorting to war to settle their differences.

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The United States-Philippine Defense and Security Cooperation in Asia-Pacific

The rise of the Marxist Soviet Union after the Second World War put it in collision course with the United States the world’s another super power. Their competition for global leadership brought about the Cold War. The fall of China to the communist under Mao Zedong in 1949 made the United States to be more concerned of the spread of communism to other parts of the world. In connection with the global political and security concerns that were prevailing at that time, the United States and the Philippines signed a Mutual Defense Treaty on August 31, 1951 at Washington D.C. which called for the two nations to help each other if either of them is attacked by an external enemy within its territory. The term of the treaty is indefinite and ends one year after one of the parties notified the other of its desire to terminate the agreement.                                                 

During the Cold War, the US and the USSR fortunately did not engage each other physically which would have been catastrophic for the world. However, they did compete utilizing their client states and at times sent their own forces to participate in battles such as the war in Viet Nam and Afghanistan. The war in Korea ended in a stale mate. And the conflict in Cuba and the war in Viet Nam ended in communist victory. The support of the US of corrupt and repressive anti-communist dictators like Anastasio Somoza and Ferdinand Marcos made the US unpopular to the people where those leaders reigned. The dumping of hated dictators by the US when they were no longer useful to it had created an image of the US as untrustworthy ally.

Anti-US sentiment and distrust to the US were manifested in the Philippines in 1997 when the expiring US Bases Agreement of 1947 was to be renewed by the Philippine Senate. Despite US President’s George Herbert Walker Bush’s support of it and Philippine President’s Corazon Aquino’s intimate campaign to have it renewed, the Senators nevertheless rejected the agreement on September 13, 1991. The last American troops left the Philippines on November 24, 1992.

The incident on 9/11 in USA on the bombing of Twin Towers of New York precipitated to the US War on Terrorism. The threat posed by Abu Sayyaf which is linked with the Jemaah Islamiyah, an international terrorist organization, has rekindled military cooperation between the US and the Philippines in dealing with mutual security concern. Pestered by kidnappings and other terroristic activities perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf, the Philippines welcomed the presence of limited number of US troops whose operations and conduct are regulated by the Visiting Forces Agreement between the US and the Philippines. The United States considers VFA as executive agreement that does not need the approval of the US Senate.                                                                                                                                                     

Despite the constitutional provision banning foreign forces in the Philippines, the government recognized its legitimacy. Former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo invoked the 1951 RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty to justify presence of US troops. They are in the Philippines as advisers and trainers to the Armed Forces of the Philippines on counter-terrorism. They are also involved in civic action to help depressed communities in the south. So far, the partnership of US and Filipino troops has resulted to the killing of top Abbu-Sayaff leaders and the rescue of American kidnap victim Gracia Burnham on June 7, 2002.

Another matter that is of mutual security concern to the Philippines and the United States is the situation at South China Sea. At present the administration of President Benigno Aquino III is faced with the problem of conflicting claims of neighboring countries on shoals and islets in the South China Sea. A case in point is the Scarborough Shoal which is 198 kilometers off Subic Bay in the Philippine province of Zambales, and it is therefore within the Philippines’ 200 nautical kilometers exclusive economic zone (EEZ). However, it is also claimed by China. The situation becomes volatile for both countries, and the Philippines is in no position to uphold its claim militarily because of the economic strength and the influence of China in the global community.

The Philippines’ quest for the resolution of dispute on territorial boundary with China got a big boost when US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton aboard USS Fitzgerald signed the Manila Declaration on November 16, 2011, reaffirming US commitment to honor the Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines. The declaration was signed in the presence of her Filipino counterpart Foreign affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario.

Furthermore, the US Senate passed Resolution 481 on June 5, 2012, calling for increased defense and security cooperation between the United States and the Philippines. President Aquino visited the White House to talk with US President Barack Obama in the second week of June 2012 on bilateral issues concerning economic, security and defense in the Asia-Pacific region.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced in Singapore that the US will position 60% of its naval ships in the Asia-Pacific region before the end 2020. That figure is an increase by 10% of the current  deployment of 50%. His pronouncement emphasized the importance of Asia Pacific in the US’s future economic and defense plans. The region is the home of the world’s second and third largest economies by GDP like China, and Japan plus the economic power houses such as South Korea, India, Singapore and Taiwan.

China’s economy is predicted to improve even more in the years to come and that it will even surpass that of the United States. China’s military power is also growing and it is modernizing its Peoples’ Liberation Army. Its military might and its aggressive stance in the South China Sea relative to its claims on the disputed areas are cause of concern to its neighbors.                                                                

The defense and security cooperation between the United States and the Philippines is highly beneficial not only to the national interest of both countries but also to the other countries in the region. The increased presence of the US Navy will maintain the balance of power in the South China Sea. It will make the waters in it accessible to international vessels for economic and other productive purposes. The Philippines with its strategic location is a valuable partner of the US in that endeavor. The Philippines also needs the US to protect its interest in the disputed Scarborough Shoal because its Armed Forces is poorly equipped. It needs a credible defense, and cooperative and friendly relations with other countries to sustain its economic growth. The Philippines at present is a new industrializing country which is the 45^th largest economy in the world by GDP. It is projected by HSBC to become the 16^th world largest economy by 2050.

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China and Philippine's Dispute over Scarborough Shoal

Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea has become a bone of contention between the Philippines and China. Both countries claim ownership of that barren shoal which is called Panatag by the Philippines and Huangyan by China. Scarborough shoal is composed of islets, reefs and an atoll. Beijing based its claim in history citing Yuan dynasty map of 1279 which included the shoal as part of its territory. The Philippines on the other hand premised its claim on geography since it is only about 123 nautical miles or 198 kilometer off Subic Bay while it is 350 nautical miles from China. The Philippines asserted that the shoal is within its 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and therefore it has the legitimate right to explore and use its marine resources in accordance with the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS).                                                                                                                  

Countries at the South China Sea such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and to a lesser extent Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims over the outlying group of small islands and reefs in that sea. However, China claims sovereignty over almost all of the disputed islands. The conflicting claims resulted to an armed confrontation between China and Vietnam in the Paracel and Spratly’s islands. That engagement went badly for Vietnam, and since then China secured the area with its troops. The Philippines also claim some of the areas such as the Panganiban Reef in the Spratly’s which is just 87 nautical miles off its province of Palawan. But the Chinese fished at the sea around it. When the Philippines protested, China responded by building a four- story military garrison there.  China insisted that it is part of its territory. After some saber-rattling the Philippines backed down.                                                                  

Scarborough Shoal is not a part of Spratly’s Islands, and the Philippine government considers it as part of its municipality of Masinloc, Zambales. But the Chinese government also considers it as its own. On April 10, 2012 eight Chinese vessels with their crew were caught by the Philippine Navy with corals, giant clams and live sharks at the shoal. In response, Chinese authorities then sent navy vessels to that area.  Although there was no armed engagement between the Chinese and the Philippine vessels, the presence of the Chinese Naval ships enabled the Chinese fishermen to get away.  Relative to the incident the Philippine ambassador was called from his embassy in China, and the Chinese authorities told him that the Philippine government should let alone Chinese fishermen at the shoal and that its navy should not be sent there.                                                                 

The Philippines however, is not in a mood to submit to the threat of its giant and powerful neighbor. It has signified its openness to the assistance of its long time ally, the United States in the dispute.  The United States has so far shown supportive but sometimes ambivalent position with regard to the issue. Prior to the May incident the US senate passed a resolution on June 2011 condemning China’s use of force against smaller countries in the area and affirmed US willingness to use its military might against China’s aggression in South the China Sea. The US and the Philippines also agreed to conduct joint military exercise in the Philippines, an activity which further alienated the Philippines from China.  Despite that resolution from the US senate, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton issued statement that the US will not take side in the event armed conflict erupts in South China Sea.

Dealing with the Philippine resoluteness, China engages its small neighbor in the economic front. It declared 150 containers of bananas as infected with pest and as a result the fruits just rot in the Southern Chinese ports. Chinese tourist bookings to Boracay Island, a popular tourist destination, were also cancelled. The Chinese account for the fourth largest tourist arrivals after the Koreans, Americans and Japanese. The sanction had an immediate impact on the affected businessmen who relayed to the Aquino administration their situation. The president advised them to look for markets and tourists elsewhere.

Some Filipinos view the event at Scarborough Shoal as an act of aggression and violation of their country’s sovereignty by China. They marched at the Chinese embassy in the Philippines on May 11, 2012. Parallel march was also conducted at Chinese embassies in other countries. Before that protest China issued an advisory to its citizen in those countries not to go out of their homes in that date. To ease the tension, the Philippines sent a communication to China that the protest was an exercise of its citizens’ right for the redress of their grievance, and it was not initiated in any way by the government.

China is the world’s second largest economy and the third largest in size in terms of total area. It has also the world’s second largest army with 2.3 million active troops that are supported with a whooping military budget of US $129 billion in 2011.  It is also a recognized nuclear weapon state. Indeed, by all accounts China is the strongest country in the area at the South China Sea and perhaps in all of Asia. A small and poor country like the Philippines has a very limited chance of success against China in a military conflict. However, the Filipinos are united behind the national leadership of President Aquino to defend and protect a territory that they think as rightfully belonging to them.                                                                                                                           

The Philippines has so far made move to settle its dispute with China over the Scarborough Shoal. It has tried to propose with China to bring the matter to the International Tribunal for the Laws of the Sea (ITLOS), but the latter refused. It has also tried to get the involvement of its neighbors to resolve the issue. But so far, those countries have not yet responded. And most of all the Philippines keeps its line of communication always open with china in resolving their disputes diplomatically.

The disputed islets, reefs and cays in the South China Sea are mostly barren, uninhabited and devoid of vegetation. Apart from being rich fishing ground, they have little economic value at present. However, speculations are rife that those groups of island sit on vast natural gas and fossil oil deposits.  And it is probably the reason why China would want to have all of the islets of the South China as its own. China is a newly industrialized country with the biggest fossil fuel consumption in the world.                                   

With its super power potential, increasing international influence as well as its growing economic and military powers, China may eventually possess and control all of the disputed islands in the South China Sea. The country that can deter or stop China most from its aggression is the United States, the only remaining super power in the world. China will think twice before locking horns with the most powerful and influential country of the world.  Although the US is indebted financially to China, the latter owes its prosperity with its trading with the US and other Western countries. The US can do better in having partnership with countries in the area other than China if the contested areas are indeed rich in deposits of oil and other underwater mineral resources. The control of China of important key trading route in the sea may not be good for the US in its global projection of power. Adherence to international laws such as UNCLOS by nations having conflicting territorial claims of the disputed areas is perhaps the best option to avoid armed conflicts among them.

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China and Japan Territorial Dispute in East China Sea: a Flash Point in the Pacific