WASHINGTON/BEIJING -- Tokyo and Washington have been on ever-higher alert as Beijing continues advancing with its moves to unilaterally change the status quo on the high seas, even amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday made clearer than ever the U.S. position of not recognizing Beijing's claims regarding maritime interests in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government on Tuesday released its white paper Defense of Japan 2020 in which it criticizes China for "relentlessly" trying to change the status quo in waters around the Senkaku Islands of Okinawa Prefecture.
--Pompeo's fiery rhetoric
"The PRC's predatory world view has no place in the 21st century," Pompeo said in the Monday press statement, referring to the People's Republic of China by its initials. "We ... reject any push to impose 'might makes right' in the South China Sea or the wider region."
Pompeo's statement was filled with words and phrases that fiercely criticized China's words and deeds in connection with the South China Sea. The U.S. government had previously opposed China's militarization of reefs and islets in the South China Sea that, Washington said, would threaten freedom of navigation. However, the United States had taken a policy of neutrality, in principle, when it came to the issue of territorial claims among competing countries and regions.
This time, Pompeo went so far as to state, "[T]he PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to Mischief Reef or Second Thomas Shoal, both of which fall fully under the Philippines' sovereign rights and jurisdiction." Beijing and Manila are competing over their claims on these parts of the Spratly Islands.
Pompeo also said, "The PRC cannot lawfully assert a maritime claim -- including any Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claims derived from Scarborough Reef ... vis-a-vis the Philippines" in areas that a Hague tribunal had declared to be in Manila's EEZ.
The statement is also apparently aimed at blocking China from maneuvering for conciliation by making clear the U.S. position of supporting the Philippines, with which the United States has an alliance, over the South China Sea issue.
Philippine National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday issued a statement siding with Pompeo.
"We strongly agree with the position of the international community that there should be a rules-based order in the South China Sea," he said.
"The United States, for the first time, has asserted on its own judgment that there are no legal grounds for China's claims," said Tetsuo Kotani, a professor at Meikai University and scholar on maritime security. "The U.S. policy on the South China Sea has risen to another dimension."
--Unsinkable aircraft carrier
Lying behind Washington increasing pressure on Beijing is an alarming feeling toward China, which has been accelerating the move to change the status quo in the South China Sea by force. It is not only because the South China Sea serves as a key route for the United States to deploy U.S. forces to the Indian Ocean and the Middle East, but also because Washington heavily depends on it as a sea-lane for trade.
China built an artificial island with a 3,000-meter-class runway in the Spratly Islands, thereby building up its readiness for takeoff and landing of fighter jets and other aircraft. A source connected to military affairs sees it as an unsinkable aircraft carrier.
The military balance in the South China Sea is shifting in Beijing's favor, as indicated by the fact China late last year put into commission the Shandong, its first domestically built aircraft carrier, at a base on Hainan island.
At a time when countries around the world are compelled to deal with the spread of novel coronavirus infections, China has been escalating its pressure on Southeast Asian coastal states. For instance, a Chinese government ship recently rammed a Vietnamese fishing vessel, sinking the smaller ship. In early July, Beijing also conducted a military drill around the Paracel Islands, over which it competes with Hanoi for territorial rights.
Following the 2016 tribunal ruling, China has been holding talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to create a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea to avoid conflicts in the disputed waters, thus displaying to the international community its policy of reconciliation.
In reality, however, a prevailing view has it that "China is using it as a pretext for excluding U.S. involvement," as a diplomatic source in Beijing put it.
The possibility of China establishing an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) above the South China Sea cannot be excluded, either. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in late June that "every country has the right to establish the ADIZ and decide whether to establish an ADIZ based on the intensity of threats it faces in air defense security."
China is poised to advance its military buildup in the South China Sea steadily in the future, too. The country apparently has calculated that by overpowering ASEAN member states with its military strength, it can move ahead with its negotiations with them to its advantage.
--Show of force
The United States has been increasing its military pressure, for instance, by dispatching earlier this month two nuclear aircraft carriers to the South China Sea for the first time in six years. The New York Times, in its article on Pompeo's statement, said the statement "leaves open the possibility that the United States might come to the defense of nations like Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines if clashes erupt because of Chinese aggression."
According to Kotani, the U.S. administration led by President Donald Trump is expected to "advance its policy of increasing its pressure on the military front as well as on the diplomatic front."
It is difficult to say whether the United States can contain China. Whether Washington can come up with any effective, decisive blow against Beijing remains a challenge.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
