As China, the Philippines and Vietnam argue over the South China Sea the waters are being over fished and polluted. And conflict could be around the corner.
Many citizens of China, the Philippines and Vietnam won’t have heard of the tiny scraps of land in the South China Sea that their governments compete with one another to claim. Certainly, almost none will ever set eyes on them.
So are places like Scarborough Shoal, the scene of Beijing and Manila’s latest maritime spat this month, really worth all the aggravation? And whose fault is it that these confrontations, which have the potential to start wars – and at the very least to kill fishermen and sailors – keep on happening?
Tiny, uninhabitable islets like Scarborough Shoal have little value per se, but the resources that surround them have plenty. The islets serve as pins in a map, around which governments can draw dotted lines and claim ownership over everything that lies within.
It’s these resources – the food even more, perhaps, than the oil or gas – that make stability in the South China Sea matter.
“The urgency is that these areas are being overfished and polluted, and that’s threatening the food supply of millions of people,” says Carlyle Thayer, an Emeritus Professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy who closely follows disputes in the South China Sea. “That’s something these countries have to start taking seriously.”
Fishing grounds can, of course, be shared, just as undersea energy reserves can be co-developed. But as Thayer points out, marine environments must be managed, as well as shared. If there’s a perception that fishermen from other countries are abusing resources in disputed waters and endangering livelihoods and food supplies, then that will inevitably trigger an angry response from the other claimants.
So putting an end to the South China Sea disputes is important from a security perspective. But it’s also important from a food security perspective. As things stand, the South China risks a textbook “tragedy of the commons,” the destruction of common resources over which no single authority has control.
In addition, Thayer points out that oil licenses will be granted in the near future, potentially causing further upset. And all this comes as most of the interested parties are investing in their navies and, in China’s case, in paramilitary maritime agencies. “The South China Sea bathtub is being filled up more and more by Chinese control vessels, and by other countries’ patrol vessels and submarines,” he says.
This approaching spike in contestation makes it all the more important that a solution be found now, and the diplomatic activity of the past year suggests that one is attainable. ASEAN has been China’s main interlocutor on South China Sea issues, and Beijing made an important goodwill gesture last November when it put up $475 million to create a China-ASEAN Maritime Co-operation Fund. Several ASEAN-China expert working groups are also now in place.
The key process of 2012 is the drafting of a Code of Conduct (COC) governing behavior in the South China Sea – and envisaged as being more far-reaching than the existing Declaration of Conduct (DOC). Crucially, ASEAN is writing the new code. The association is due to present China with its proposals in July, and Beijing will be under political pressure to accept the ASEAN formula, rather than appear domineering by rejecting the plan. The existing process also excludes the United States, which is to China’s liking. Furthermore, “China has Cambodia in the box seat at the moment [as ASEAN chair],” adds Thayer.
Photo Credit: U.S. Navy
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Jenny
if we stand on the political theory, every leaders have to think about their national interest. I think all of the conflicted countries are wrong to the ecosystem which is being depleted in South China Sea. John, your idea is far bias to China which is considered as a big player in this game. As an academic person, I dnt agree at all to your idea which seems to propose the war btw the conflicted countries.
We are all sharing the same house (planet), so y dnt we just sit and talk for a solution. COC is an important strategic mechanism to pave the way! ASEAN-China meeting allows the chance. One more idea from me is that I can see that China is far fearful comparing to Philippines and Vietnam. His ambition is too huge. John please be critical and analytical toward China’s political strategy.
John Chan
Both Philippines and Vietnam are irresponsible nations, they are greedy and endanger the natural environment for their short term gain, they use explosives, poison and drag net to deplete the fishery and coral reef in the South China Sea, and pollute the water from their illegal oil platforms.
Philippines and Vietnam are abusing the resources in the disputed water like all squatters, because it is not their property.
China should carry out more marine surveillance patrols to sanction the rogue activities undertaken by the Philippines and Vietnam like at Scarborough Shoal. When China’s next batch of 11 new marine enforcement ships put into service, China can end all those illegal and unethical activities that are ravaging the ecosystem in the South China Sea by the Philippines and Vietnam.
wakali09
your barking at the wrong tree also you should take a mirror first
the reason why chinese vessel go to the territorial sea of the Philippines because al its acqua environment is totaly destroyed!
mike
An ignorant comment.
The current standoff between the philippines and china is because of chinese fishermen poaching in the said area. The philippines tried to confisacted the endangendangered turtles and giant clams under, of course, with the pretext of prtoecting its territory. Nonetheless, saying china can better manage maritime resources is a big question mark.
moro moro
China is very pathetic, claiming all south china sea using Maps of toppled kingdoms. we belong now to the modern world and follow UN laws. abide the Unclos, and stop using gunboat diplomacy-only barbaric people do that. Peaceful rise or for us, bullied Aseans China is going Fistful rise.
Amy
I am a Taiwanese, Chinese and American. I’d say that we all calm down, take a break, and have a drink together.
I have Vienamese and Philipino friends. And I think there is no point of making them enemies.
Ty Levi
I believe when talking about South China Sea we could not leave the U.S out of the picture. The presence of the U.S in the Pacific has certainly boosted the morale of ASEAN and increased caution on the Chinese side.
Kimbo Y. Laurel
It is better that South China Sea (or the West Philippines Sea by the Philippines) should be internationalized and claimed by no ownership on the piece of water. At least, no one wins or lose.
ariel
Huy Dong is right. The letter “C” stands for China, Conflict and Chaos.
John Chan
The letter “I” stands for Israel, imperialistic, inhumane, and ironfisted.
jimbob
The description "I" for Isreal fits more with China.
Vietz
The UN has turned a blind eye in the East Sea. That’s why, it allows China aggressively asserted its claims in the entire of the East Sea. Clearly, a child can see China’s argument because it printed out of their kindergarten history text book. How can any one in the world believe that China owns the entire East sea. Where are the evidences? Where are the proof? By stating and by showing a dotted lines in a dodgy map that one of their ancestors has traveled to South East Asia does not mean the entire East Sea belong to China. where are the Chinese people on those islets? No where to be seen. The international community needs to tell China to butts off and grow up. What’s your is your and what’s our is our. Not what’s your is your and what’s our also yours.
Liang1a
You people need to be careful. PLAN robbed Vietnamese islands and killed 64 unarmed Vietnamese sailors, filmed the whole event and posted on YouTube as trophy.
Have you people learned anything?
Bangsarster
Dear Mr Liang1a,
Most of the countries are just waiting to repay China for all its atrocities with interest when the War in South China Sea starts.
John Chan
@Bangsarster,
China is a responsible member in Asia; Chinese is Asian, keeping Asia in peace serves their interests because Asia is their home. Yet USA is an alien of Asia, only chaos serves its interests, that’s what it has been doing in Asia since its existence, from Captain Perry, Korea War, Vietnam War and pivoting to Asia; all USA brings to Asia is death, atrocity, hostility, hatred, …
Fabricating narratives to put wedges among the Asians like you is just a continuation of USA’s predatory imperialist policy.
Hack
Yah right your country is very responsible thats why they killed 64 unarmed Vietnamise sailors, Harrassed an exploration vessel, Fired warning shots on fishermans that are unarmed, Claim an ocean that its not thier own. YOU ARE VERY RIGHT.
Jun
In the short run, China will have to back down. If it is seen as the neighborhood bully it loses. I just hope there’s no reckless posturing by the Chinese military before the handover of power to the next generation of Chinese leaders. In the long term, assuming China doesn’t disintegrate in ethnic and/or economic chaos, war in Southeast Asia is inevitable.
Huy Duong
The problem is there are countries, or, rather, there is a country, that wants to use “tiny scraps of land in the South China Sea” to claim most of the South China Sea.
This is why the Philippines quite rightly wants to go to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to obtain a ruling that Scarborough Shoal, which consists of uninhabitable rocks without economic life of their own, can only have 12 nm of territorial sea, but no EEZ beyond 12 m. That would mean that the area more than 12 nm from Scarborough Shoal will not be under dispute, thus reducing the conflict area in the South China Sea.
This is also why there is a country that does not want ITLOS to be able to rule that Scarborough Shoal can only have 12 nm of territorial sea.
Any conflict in the Scarborough Shoal area that is more than 12 nm from the reef is due to nothing other than China’s desire to expand the conflicts to the U-shaped line. As soon as China gives up that desire, the South China Sea disputes will be what the author thinks they should be: disputes over tiny scraps of land and limited resources.
It is China’s desire to claim resources as far as the U-shaped line that raises the stake for and the threat to other countries.
The author can ask himself: Why is it that these conflicts are between China and one of the other countries, but not between those other countries? How come Vietnam and Malaysia can make a joint submission to the Commission for the Limit of the Continental Shelf and Vietnam and the Philippines can arrange a football match between the soldiers on the disputed islands?
The answer is among China, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, China is the only country that wants to maximise the conflict area.
Observer
@ Huy Duong,
Nice write up.
I want to add a few titbits. Bully china is the only one that attacked other nations in the South Sea. Other nations (Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwain, etc.) have their differences but they did not shot at, beat up, capture, and then demand ransome money from poor and unarmed fishermen as bully china.
John Chan
@Observer,
Huy Duong is a Vietnamese in exile, he is resentful that China helped NV overrun SV, and he has to live in the USA as second-class citizen.
ASEAN is established to reduce the violence among themselves, because Vietnam has been shooting at Filipinos, Indonesians, Cambodians, Thais, etc. too much. Unfortunately Philippines and Vietnam are rogue states, they rendered ASEAN not very effective.
Mike Kragar
Nobody is buying this transparent, and frankly silly, Chinese propaganda. China is the only aggressor in the area (other than North Korea, whose ambitions are limited to South Korea and who are also a Chinese puppet), all the other Pacific countries seem to get along with themselves just fine.
Facts are facts and transparent propaganda is just sad and humorous.
Henry Nguyen
You forgot to mention Brunei, which according to the Chinese doctored U-shape claim would have about 2 nm of EEZ. What a joke!
When defending their self-serving U-shape claim, China often referenced the 13th century map proving first discovery ( just like Spain now owns most Americas because Columbus first “discovered” the new lands ) and the Zheng He’s 15th century treasure trips to Africa proving early marine Chinese superiority. Well, the map was drawn in the 13th century when China was ruled by a Mongolian named Kublai Khan ( should Mongolia not be the claimant instead? ) and Zheng He was not Han Chinese but a Persian Muslim ( ancient case of intellectual property piracy? ).
So, I agree with you that China is the only country that has no ground to stand in front of any international/ civilized court. Therefore, they must reverse back to 1,000 years old myth and mentality. Meanwhile, they will continue to dispute/create conflicts and use force against all their neighbors until someone stops them.