Taiwan's South China Sea claims are outdated. It could earn some vital regional goodwill by abandoning them.
The recent confrontations in the South China Sea between China, Vietnam and the Philippines, and the subsequent street demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are an unwelcome reminder that long simmering tensions in the waters off Southeast Asia could boil over at any time.
The past month has seen diplomats and officials in Beijing, Hanoi and Manila engage in a round of accusations, protests and denials, with even usually quiet Singapore prompted to call on China to clarify its territorial claims.
Taiwan, meanwhile, reiterated its position, emphasizing its sovereignty over the contested territory. According to a June 15 statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan noted ‘that the Nansha Islands, the Shisha Islands, the Chungsha Islands and the Tungsha Islands, as well as their surrounding waters, sea beds and subsoil are all an inherent part of the territory of the Republic of China (Taiwan).’ Moreover, on June 22, as reported by Channel News Asia, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy C.Y. Yang spoke of increasing military patrols on Taiwan-held islands.
Odd as it may seem given their history of animosity, the South China Sea territorial claims of the governments of China and Taiwan are nearly identical. Both the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China base their modern day claims on the so-called ‘nine-dotted’ or ‘U-shaped’ line visible on maps issued by the then Nanjing-based Republic of China government in 1947.
In the years since 1947, Taiwan has issued periodic statements regarding its claims. In 1993, it asserted sovereignty over the bulk of the South China Sea, including the Spratly, Pratas, and Paracel islands. In 1995, Taipei both reiterated its claim to the ‘U-shaped line’ and initiated construction on Itu Aba Island (Tai Ping Tao) in the Spratlys despite longstanding territorial claims to that tiny island by the Philippines and Vietnam as well as China.
The current Taiwanese position hasn’t changed in any fundamental way in the years since 1947, despite both Taiwan and the region having evolved dramatically in that time.
But hewing to the nine-dotted line claim of 1947 in 2011 imposes a needless liability on modern day Taiwan. Taiwan needs good relations with its Southeast Asian neighbours. Democratic Taiwan wants to, as it should, be perceived as a responsible international actor both in Asia and globally. The excessive maritime claims embodied by the 1947 declaration, however, fly in the face of this. Taipei’s continued adherence to China’s maritime territorial claims is therefore inimical to Taiwan’s long-term regional and international interests.
By holding to outdated and legally untenable claims, Taiwan risks alienating its ASEAN neighbours while its already deep economic ties to them continue to grow. By siding with Beijing on the excessive maritime claims inherited from 1947, an already isolated Taipei risks alienating neighbours that are increasingly wary of China, and that could potentially become more sympathetic to Taiwan.
Taiwan has now, in the choppy waters of the South China Sea, an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to international harmony and to being a constructive force for regional stability. Taipei ought to modify its maritime territorial claims in a manner that’s both more acceptable to its Southeast Asian neighbours, and in accordance with international law.
Taiwan would be wise to adopt a modified claim based on the 200 nautical mile limit as enunciated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in its definition of exclusive economic zones. By adopting this stance, Taipei would be able to maintain a claim to a substantial portion of the South China Sea while stepping back from those territorial claims that are particularly aggressive, ambitious and intellectually offensive to its neighbours. Doing so would also bring Taipei’s positions – unlike those of Beijing – into compliance with international law and the UNCLOS.
Photo Credit: Flickr / Daymin
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David Li
John Chan advocates the SEA nations transfer recognition from Beijing to Taiwan.
He is very naive to advocate such a step.Or he is smart to deflect problems afflicting Taiwan at the moment. Bear in mind most SEA countries have strong trade ties with China.
As for the Taiwan problem it was created by the US and a face saving way must be found for it to relinquish itself of the current situation. My guess is Taiwan Independence is a no brainer although US advocates and overseas Taiwanes want it.The Tiwanese on Taiwan will have to bear the consequences of such an act.
gunfire
The problem of Taiwan will be solved when the PLA is able to call the US bluff to defend it. Taiwan cannot escape China’s shadow and the the US is and wont be able to defend it forever.
The PLA aint seeking parity with the US. There is no need for that. All they is nee is throw a spanner in the US decision making process and we shall see.
talk again
“Taiwan’s South China Sea claims are outdated.” – It is ridiculous idea. Taiwan’s claims are based on the country’s history and the legal files signed to ceasefire of WWWII. If you denied the claims, you deny all the legal system established after WWWII.
What you want is to ask Taiwan to give up its benefit/rights and to hurt the mainland of china. You do not care about the rights/benefits of Taiwan. You just use Taiwan as your tool. No, not your tool. I believe you also take care your tool. Could you believe Taiwanese believe your “smart” idea? Or you think Taiwanese have lower IQ than yours?
By the way, if some of your friend suggest you to send your wife to do some ‘PR job’ with your boss to beat your opponent in your job and get some benefit for your promotion, I suggest that you can not accept this suggestion. It is based on the same logic. Just a kidding.
If you fought the communist, I do not care about it. But obviously, you have a pathetic knowledge about the Chinese history and culture. And also you do not know the difference between the country and the governments. And what you see the issue is lack foresight.
Let me teach you some knowledge:1) China have a long history and has different names in its history. over 100 years ago, it called Dynasty Qing; Over 62 years ago, it called Republic of China; Now there have 2 names : Republic of china and People’s Republic of china which means there have 2 governments and the civil war do not cease. We do not know how we can call China after China re-unite in the future. There still have chances for China to become a democratic country with mainland and taiwan united.You have to respect Chinese. Learn more historic and geography knowledge and Hide your ignorance and arrogant attitude. it is good for you.
2) If you do not care about your “friend”, your friend will not care about you. Until now, many Chinese still thanks for US to help them to fight Japanese invasion in WWWII. When we talk about TsingHua University, the No.1 university in China, we all know that it is US, who refund the money and help us to established it.
3) Please change your cold-war style thoughts. China is not the same as the Soviet Union. Chinese economy is part of the global economy. China has weak military and is only one not-united big country. China have over 300 millions people lived in poverty condition. In the next 100 years, China have to focus on its inner problem, such as poverty and democracy. if US CAN HELP CHINA TO GET PROGRESS IN POVERTY AND DEMOCRACY PROBLEMS, the world will have better future and you will also make more money. Do not do outdated cold-war style things. There is no steel curtain between China and the West countries. Of course you do not make it.
4) Also, when you talk about Chinese, you have to learn, there have 4 kinds of Passports in Great China region and over 30 millions Chinese living overseas who mostly are not Chinese citizens.
So Here are my suggestion:
If you want to acquire long-term benefit in Asia Pacific region for your country, you have to make a stable basement with friendship. Those are :1) Respect every country and region in this area;2) help China mainland turn to democratic way and support taiwan democracy system development.3) do not light a fire between China and SouthEast Asia countries. It will at last hurt your country too although you maybe can get some tactical advantages in short term.From human history, we all know the small country at last will be victims under the polices of big countries. Please help those small countries and do not use them as some one-time tools.
BE SMARTER, BE COOL!!!
an smarter guy
“Taiwan’s South China Sea claims are outdated.” – It is ridiculous idea. Taiwan’s claims are based on the country’s history and the legal files signed to ceasefire of WWWII. If you denied the claims, you deny all the legal system established after WWWII.
What you want is to ask Taiwan to give up its benefit/rights and to hurt the mainland of china. You do not care about the rights/benefits of Taiwan. You just use Taiwan as your tool. No, not your tool. I believe you also take care your tool. Could you believe Taiwanese believe your stupid idea? Or you think Taiwanese have lower IQ than yours?
By the way, if some of your friend suggest you to send your wife to do some ‘PR job’ with your boss to beat your opponent in your job and get some benefit for your promotion, I suggest that you can not accept this suggestion. It is based on the same logic. Just a kidding!
If you fought the communist, I do not care about it. But obviously, you have a pathetic knowledge about the Chinese history and culture. And also you do not know the difference between the country and the government. And what you see the issue is lack foresight.
Let me teach you some knowledge:
1) China have a long history and has different names in its history. over 100 years ago, it called Dynasty Qing; Over 62 years ago, it called Republic of China; Now there have 2 names : Republic of china and People’s Republic of china which means there have 2 governments and the civil war do not cease. We do not know how we can call China after China re-unite in the future. There still have chances for China to become a democratic country with mainland and taiwan united.
You have to respect Chinese. Learn more historic and geography knowledge and Hide your ignorance and arrogant attitude. it is good for you.
2) If you do not care about your “friend”, your friend will not care about you. Until now, many Chinese still thanks for US to help them to fight Japanese invasion in WWWII. When we talk about TsingHua University, the No.1 university in China, we all know that it is US, who refund the money and help us to established it.
3) Please change your cold-war style thoughts. China is not the same as the Soviet Union. Chinese economy is part of the global economy. China has weak military and is only one not-united big country. China have over 300 millions people lived in poverty condition. In the next 100 years, I believe that china need to focus on its inner problem, such as poverty and democracy. if US CAN HELP CHINA TO GET PROGRESS IN POVERTY AND DEMOCRACY PROBLEMS, the world will have better future and you will also make more money. Do not do stupid cold-war style things. There is no steel curtain between China and the West countries.
4) Also, when you talk about Chinese, you have to learn, there have 4 kinds of Passports in Great China region and over 30 millions Chinese living overseas who mostly are not Chinese citizens.
So Here are my suggestion:
If you want to acquire long-term benefit in Asia Pacific region for your country, you have to make a stable basement with friendship. That is :
1) Respect every country and region in this area;
2) help China mainland turn to democratic way and support taiwan democracy system development.
3) do not light a fire between China and SouthEast Asia countries. It will at last hurt your country too although you maybe can get some tactical advantages.
From history, we all know the small country at last will be victims under the polices of big countries.
BE SMARTER, BE COOL!!!
Old scholar from HK
Beijing should thank Pearson for giving it a good excuse to reunify Taiwan by force, sidestepping its worries about “hurting national feelings” of the Chinese living on Taiwan if its leaders forsake their duties to defend the country’s territories. What would Taiwan gain by the so-called “up-staging” intentions which Pearson proposes? Politicians in Taiwan may embrace democracy as it gives them the chance to be elected presidents if they so wish. Who wants to be the president of an island if Beijing would be so provoked that it would take it by force? Perhaps Pearson should go there and run for president.
Sinodefender
I find it funny how some bloggers think Taiwan will ally itself with SEA. The Taiwanese in Taiwan are of Han from coastal regions so they will not betray the Han for petty foreigners.
Hongjian
This just shows how butthurt the western world is, that PRC and ROC are moving somewhat closer due to their common claims, based on a common ancestry.
What they want to do is not to let Taiwan become a country, but that they would let themselves be used as a mere tool or weapon against China, for their own disadvantage. There’s not a single viable reason stated why the ROC should give up her claims, besides just to be in line with the western goal of forming a containment alliance against the PRC.
This is indeed jerkoff of the worst kind. Obviously, the well developing relationship across the straits bugs them as hell. It bugs them so much, that they wish to do anything to disrupt it.
This, in return, may be also a potential danger: I could imagine that the US could take harsh (clandestine) measures to harm the KMT if the cross-strait relationship develops all too well for their liking in the coming years. Maybe a Cheonan-like sinking of a ROCN vessel by a “PLA miget sub”, instigated by the CIA to destroy the cross-strait approachment and get the KMT out of the govt. It worked in case of Japan, after all…
ozivan
2 months into Diplomat, I have read and participated in the disputes of the South China Seas particularly in relation to the 1982 UNCLOS 3 ( there were 3 UNCLOS 1,2&3 )
It gave me an opportunity to read more into UNCLOS. And this is what I stumbled upon.
The US was the primary driver and shaper of the latest 1982 UNCLOS 3.
Strangely, the US subsequently refused to ratify the UNCLOS treaty after its conclusion in 1982 because when the Reagan administration came to power, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, the US ambassador to the UN was the strongest opponent terming it a “bad bargain” for the US. She testified and convinced the American Senate committee not to ratify UNCLOS
Opponents to UNCLOS in the American Senate cited, amongst others, that the rules in UNCLOS were:
(The more pertinent ones)
1. Against US interest generally
2. The rules in UNCLOS requires mandatory technology transfer by US to coastal states
which the US felt was unfair and in deference to unfriendly states (the USSR was in
existence then) it was detrimental to the US
3. Group voting or multilateral form of voting under UNCLOS was not favoured by the
Americans. It had to be by concensus.
Since the Reagan administration, UNCLOS was repeatedly rejected by the US Senate in subsequent administrations.
Please go to wikipedia/United States-non-ratification-of-UNCLOS for more information.
+++++++++++++++++++
Another crucial information that I came upon was that although 160 countries have signed and ratified UNCLOS,…
60 countries ratified it with declarations and/or statements attached…!!
These 60 countries signed and ratified UNCLOS with various declarations, statements, reservations, non-acceptance of certain rules or definition or interpretation , provisons, non acceptance of disputes settlement rules etc etc…. against the various articles and rules stipulated in UNCLOS. In short, these countries accepted UNCLOS only to the extent they did not clash with their respective national interests.
Who are some of those countries ?
In the South China Seas disputes…China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia (except Brunei)all ratified UNCLOS with self-serving conditions. Read those countries’ respective conditions by going to UNCLOS webpage :
Declaration or statements upon UNCLOS ratification. http://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/status.htm
In other seas, even United Kingdom, Australia and Russia, etc ratified UNCLOS with many various self-serving conditions.
In conclusion, I am baffled by Vietnam’s & Philippines’s calls to China to respect and live by UNCLOS rules on the basis that China is a signatory. The fact is that China ratified UNCLOS with , amongst others, the condition that she doesn’t recognised archipelagic waters claims of other countries except her own. So is Vietnam & Malaysia. Philippines somehow has a very odd way of stating her reservations.
Please read more on your own.
I invite bloggers to improve or correct my understanding of the disputes. Please do.
megakids
Thanks Ozivan, for the sharing of this knowledge.
ozivan
@Megakids. Thank you. It’s thoughtful of Megakids
Cyrus
What the Philippines is getting at is that China leave our EEZ alone. Let the disputed territory be disputed but let the Sovereign territory of the Philippines be the Philippines.
Why then are you is Scarborough reef? That is within our EEZ and yet you wonder why we are jittery? How greedy could China get?
That is what is on our minds and that means the beneficiary is the United States because every country that China antagonizes would come running to the United States thereby verifying her status as a Hegemon and an International Police. I for myself would prefer the United States to China.
For the only reason that US seeks to win the Philippines and its allegiance through overtures and not brute military bullying.
Thomas
“US seeks to win the Philippines and its allegiance through overtures and not brute military bullying”
The Americans don’t have to use force because the Philippines is a slave/vassal state American picked up from the Spanish. Every leader since then has had to seek approval from the Western masters before running for office! All this tension that the Philippino government is causing is to manipulate is citizens into once again accepting an American base on filipino soil because that what your masters want and their filipino puppets are more than willing to help!
Cyrus
Oh my the rhetoric.
We are a sovereign state and though all sovereign state must all bow down to a hegemon. We choose the United States, we are not in a dreamland here where in the Kant ideology of a International Community. We are in reality wherein Hobbes Hegemon is present and it is in the interest of our external defense to side with the United States. We are after all fighting an insurgency and why the Mutual Defense Pact is a God Send as it allows us to look into internal security rather than trivialize about external defense.
Now since the Communist Insurgency is in no danger of gaining ground. It cannot seek to regain the threat and status it held during the Marcos Dictatorship we can again slowly build our external capabilities. Thus the needs for jets and Naval Patrol ships.
Michael
The Philippines is a nation corrupt to soul with never ending poverty and yet you want to spend more on military weapons??? LOL
Sinodefender
A quagmire has been reached since Taiwan is not part of the UN do they have to abide to UNCLOS?
Cyrus
It would depend on their interest if it will help in their foreign policy aims then yes. If not then NO.
CK Wang
As real Taiwan person i agree with author point. KMT brought stupid Chinese position to Taiwan (together with rape, repression and murder — 228?). taiwan has long history of cooperation with south sea peoples – only China mainland has disagreements. our free taiwan needs friends, not war over sea. I hope Tsai will win next year and work with Taiwan’s friends in Manila and Hannoi.
Frank
You are right about calling yourself a “Taiwan person” instead of a Taiwanese.
Millions of Taiwanese are also proud Chinese; they will fight for their ancestral islands.
There are Taiwan persons who were the children of Taiwanese comfort women and Japanese solders. They are Taiwan persons who should be kicked out of Taiwan, or Republic of CHINA.
You do not represent Republic of CHINA (Taiwan).
Sinodefender
Personally my family in Taiwan aren’t afraid of the mainland lol my grandma married a main lander. Taiwan does not equal SEA Taiwanese people are Han not SEA maybe a bit of aboriginal. Those Han jian who deny China as a motherland and worship Japan should be deported.
Dick
those people like John chan, Frank,etc. with the pledge of allegiance to the US to become a US citizen while still spitting out all com cheap propaganda rhetorics against the American national interests must be tried in a US court for treason and must be deported or expelled back to com china immediately!Your racist attitude against other Taiwanese ethnics living in Taiwan is shameful and unacceptable!That the reason why people should be careful with com china!
Michael
I don’t know where you come from Dick, however where I come from, if your support a foreign country against your own people…that make you a traitor! The way I see it is that Taiwanese and Chinese are one and the same…period!
Frank
For your westerner’s information, Chinese regard traitors as dogs who do not deserve any respect.
For me, I respect those proud Chinese from Taiwan, Hong Kong or anywhere in this world regardless if they like PRC or not.
Sinodefender
Did I ever insult the aboroginese in Taiwan? Why would Taiwanese support Vietnam or any of those other countries over China. Taiwanese are Han they mostly came from coastal China. Traitors are vilified ever heard of Han jians?
smarter guy
Are you really from Taiwan?
I can not believe that one people from taiwan can agree to give South China sea to SEA? Do you love Taiwan? Do you know that Taiwan have troops in the biggest island in South China Sea after WWWii.
What is your logic to give up the islands? It sounds as if you hate yourself, you hate your skin color, you hate your language and you hate your culture. Who are you?
John Chan
I wonder whether Richard Pearson is a classmate of Gordon Chang, both of them write similar style, superficial, agitating and destructive to the peace and prosperity of the world.
It is sad to see that a predicatory imperialist USA wants to undermine China so they can avoiding paying the interest and borrowing back to China, it is a classic rogue state behaviour, but setting Taiwan up as the foul guy to undermine China without providing material incentive in return is rather disappointing. The plot in the article is cheap and unsophisticated; such low quality plot probably proves that Mike Mansfield Foundation is pretty low rank in the CIA mouthpiece pecking order.
The author set up Taiwan as a bad guy in the SCS episode to upstage China, but without providing some guaranteed return that Taiwan can get by betraying it ancestors’ inheritance is selfish, simple minded and without merit.
If the author does not have the imagination for such incentive, I can suggest some for him to incorporate in his next article similar to this one.
1. USA gives 100 F-22 and F-35 each to Taiwan to prevent China from attacking it in the name of punishing the traitor.
2. Make Vietnam and Philippines accepting ROC troops on their soil in order to guarantee that Vietnam and Philippines will share their benefits from the concession Taiwan made.
3. Transfer half of oil and gas platforms in the disputed areas to Taiwan so that Taiwan can get payment right away for selling out its ancestors’ inheritance.
4. USA gives few hundreds billion a year to Taiwan to boast up its defence to make sure the ASENA nations maintaining their good relationship with Taiwan.
5. To compensate Taiwan’s generosity, USA and ASENA nations should transfer their official diplomatic relationship to Taipei from Beijing.
Etc.