China's SCS Strategy Thread

[confusion]

Japan impounds a Taiwanese fishing vessel for trespassing its 'EEZ' around Okinotori.

One set of rules for FON for China, another set for allies like Japan and Canada; one set of rules for defining 'islands' when it comes to China, another set for allies like Japan.

The US-backed Filipino process claims that Itu Aba is a 'rock' that cannot generate an EEZ. The US does not challenge Japan when it comes to Okinotori (a naturally submerged atoll that's not even a rock by UNCLOS standards).

Are Japan's claims in accordance with international law? You think the US navy will ever do a FONOP to protest Japan's 'excessive maritimes claims' at Okinotori?

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday urged the Japanese government to immediately release a Taiwanese fishing boat seized in disputed waters near the Okinotori atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier yesterday.

In light of the debate over whether the Japanese government can claim a 200 nautical mile EEZ around Okinotorishima, Tokyo should respect Taiwan and other nations’ navigation and fishing rights in the area before the uninhabited coral reef’s legal status is determined by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, the ministry said.

“The ministry has expressed its stance to the Japanese government: given the dispute regarding Okinotori’s status in the international community, concerned parties should negotiate the issue based on international law or seek a peaceful resolution through an international organization,” it said.

The ministry said the Taiwanese fishing boat, Tung Sheng Chi No. 16, was chased by a Japan Coast Guard vessel on Sunday evening about 150 nautical miles (277.8km) east-southeast of the atoll and about 1,000 nautical miles east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip.

...

“The association received a notification at 8:42am yesterday that the fishing boat was seized by Japan on grounds that it entered Japan’s EEZ,” Tsai said, adding that the waters surrounding Okinotorishima have been a primary fishing zone for Taiwanese fishermen.

Tsai said the Japanese atoll used to be a submerged coral reef before Tokyo heavily fortified the outcroppings with cement embankments and unilaterally extended its EEZ from 12 to 200 nautical miles.

As Taiwan does not recognize Japan’s unilateral expansion of Okinotorishima’s EEZ, Taiwanese fishermen are only advised not to sail within 12 nautical miles of the atoll, Tsai said, adding that Tokyo’s action has severely infringed on Taiwanese fishermen’s rights.

Taiwanese fishermen are advised to stay 12 nautical miles away from Okinotori, but according to UNCLOS standards, Okinotori doesn't even deserve that consideration.

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2016/04/25 22:03:46

Tung Sheng Chi No. 16. (Photo courtesy of the Liuchiu Fishermen's Association)
Taipei, April 25 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou said Monday Japan's detention of a Taiwanese fishing boat in a disputed area of the Pacific was unacceptable, while the family of detained captain Pan Chien-peng (潘建鵬) has prepared NT$1.7 million (US$52,527) as a "security deposit" to seek his early release.

The "Tung Sheng Chi No. 16" from Pingtung County's Liuchiu Township was detained by Japanese coast guard personnel in waters 150 nautical miles off Japan's Okinotori coral reefs -- the total size of which is just 9 square meters or as large as two table-tennis tables -- early Monday.

At a national security meeting, Ma said there is a great deal of controversy over whether these two reefs fit the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) definition of an island that is inhabitable and can sustain an economic life and thus whose owner can claim an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles.

Before the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf determines the legal status of the Okinotori coral reefs that lie 1,007 nautical miles from Eluanpi, the southern tip of Taiwan, "Japan should respect the rights of Taiwan and other countries to navigate and fish in those waters," said Ma.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded that Japan immediately release the boat and the captain, who had been taken on board a Japanese vessel and had called his father in Pingtung to help chip in enough money to arrange for his release by noon Tuesday.

According to captain Pan's father, Pan Chung-chiu (潘忠秋), if they don't pay the security deposit by Tuesday noon, the Japanese threatened to take his son by helicopter and plane to Tokyo while the fishing boat will be towed there to stand trial, in which case they are very likely to face a fine of NT$8 million.

Tsai Pao-hsing (蔡寶興), director general of the Liuchiu Fishermen's Association, said if the government cannot secure the release of the crew and boat by late Monday, Pan Chung-chiu will send the money to Taiwan's representative office in Tokyo from which the money will be paid to the Japanese Tuesday morning.

Tsai had earlier said one of the Chinese crew members on the fishing boat was suffering an asthma attack and he urged Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration to send a vessel to rescue the patient if Japan turns down the government's request to free the boat and crew.

If the fisherman's family pays a security deposit to the Japanese authorities, that would amount to a "guilty plea" which means Taiwan has acknowledged Japan's claim to the 200-nautical-mile economic zone, he said. "That would be an awful thing for Taiwanese fishermen, who will no longer be able to fish there," he said. (Kuo Chih-hsuan, Claudia Liu and S.C. Chang)

 

[ahojunk]

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2016-04-26 07:59 | China Daily | Editor: Mo Hong'e

China accused the U.S. on Monday of "hyping up" recent military flights around a Chinese island in the South China Sea.

It said Washington's motivation was questionable and urged countries concerned to show "restraint" over the territorial issue.

Observers said the U.S. is apparently using the timing to expand military deployment in the area.

Washington's comments came ahead of a ruling by an international arbitration body in a process launched unilaterally by the Philippines against China's territorial claim in the South China Sea.

Asked about a South China Morning Post report on Monday that said China will start constructing an outpost on Huangyan Island this year, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had not heard of the case.

"However, I saw media reports that military planes from the U.S. and the Philippines flew over the sea around Huangyan Island," Hua said.

She said China has always respected the right to normal and legal flights.

"But such high-profile hyping (of the flights concerned) is abnormal, and the motivation questionable."

She also said that Huangyan Island is China's inherent territory, and Beijing will "take necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and justified rights and interests".

Hua said China does not want to see further provocation by the countries concerned and hopes they will show restraint.

The Defense Ministry on Monday also voiced objection to the flights, saying they were being staged under the guise of navigation and flight freedom, but they were actually pushing forward militarization in the South China Sea.

The Philippines claims Huangyan Island, which belongs to and is controlled by China.

The Japan Times reported on Saturday that six U.S. military aircraft left Clark Air Base in the Philippines on Tuesday last week and conducted "air and maritime situational awareness flights" near Huangyan Island.

The aircraft remained in the Philippines after a recent exercise by the two countries that included island-taking scenarios that were apparently targeted at China.

The U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement on Friday that six military planes flew last Tuesday through international airspace near Huangyan Island.

U.S. warships have stepped up operations around Chinese islands in the South China Sea, including one in October and another in January.

Teng Jianqun, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said: "The U.S. military wants to use the Philippine bases to monitor and threaten Chinese islands, including Huangyan Island. This shows that the U.S. is updating its military deployment in the South China Sea."

Tao Wenzhao, a researcher of U.S. studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the U.S. hyping of the flights is "definitely related to the ruling by the arbitration body", which is expected within weeks.

During a Southeast Asian tour by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which ended on Sunday, China agreed with Brunei, Cambodia and Laos that the South China Sea territorial dispute should not affect relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The countries also called on nations outside the region to play a constructive role in the area.

 

[Jura The idiot]

...

Asked about a South China Morning Post report on Monday that said China will start constructing an outpost on Huangyan Island this year, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had not heard of the case.

...

did she refer to

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?

 

[ahojunk]

Aha, something from Sputnik news. They go straight to the point, no beating around the bush.
My take - Sputnik News is spot on.
----------

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21:33 26.04.2016

Although Western media habitually describes China as the main troublemaker in the South China Sea and promotes the necessity of Washington's stepping in to settle the maritime dispute, the narrative has nothing to do with what is really taking place on the ground.

The Western media's narrative about China's "aggressive" posture in the South China Sea is not only exaggerated but is completely divorced from reality.

"The South China Sea has been described in numerous western publications as the latest potential 'flashpoint' in the world's geopolitical scene. The rhetoric is particularly heated and ill-informed in about equal proportions, focusing on alleged 'aggression' by the People's Republic of China ('China') in laying claim to a large expanse of water in the South China Sea well beyond its territorial limit (12 nautical miles) or any exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles) recognized in international law," James O'Neill, an Australian-based Barrister at Law writes in his

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for New Eastern Outlook.​

Commenting on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, America's influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) think tank elaborates that at the root of growing tensions in the region lies "China's sweeping claims to sovereignty over the sea."

According to the CFR, China's claims "threaten sea lines of communication, which are important maritime passages that facilitate trade and the movement of naval forces."

In its turn, the United States "maintains important interests in ensuring freedom of navigation and securing sea lines of communication" and "has a role in preventing military escalation resulting from the territorial dispute," the think tank states.

But what is really going on in the region? What do US analysts and thought leaders prefer not to focus on?

First of all, it is not only China who is busy with building artificial islands and deploying its naval forces in the region.

The Spratlys — a grouping of 230 islands, reefs and cays — have long been the focus of worldwide attention. However, it remains largely unspoken that "of the six countries claiming an interest in the Spratlys, only Brunei has failed to construct structures, mostly on stilts, on more than 40 of these islets and reefs," O'Neill writes.​

"Yet the Western media again focuses exclusively on the PRC's 'aggressive' reclamation and building activities," he adds.

On the other hand, Western media remains mute about Taiwan's military expansion and construction of artificial islands in the region. However, the Taiwanese maintain a substantial military presence on Taiping Island of the Spratly Group as well as on Tungsha Island.

Furthermore, in the beginning of 2008 Taiwan built a 2,000-meter-long airstrip on Taiping Island. Surprisingly, although the country's maritime facilities were built outside any claimed Taiwanese exclusive economic zone, neither the United States nor Australia expressed any concerns over the matter.

At the same time, according to O'Neill, it is nonsensical to accuse China of violating the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

"The biggest potential loser in any blocking of trade activity is the PRC itself. It makes absolutely no sense for the PRC to engage in any behavior so manifestly contrary to its own economic or political interests," the lawyer emphasizes.​

As for Washington's role as an international arbiter, it appears that what the White House is really doing is driving a wedge between the nations in the region. The US has been spotted undermining the Sino-Taiwanese 2008 project aimed at developing oil and gas reserves in the South and the East China Seas.

Much in the same manner the Sino-Philippines 2014 agreement over a grouping of rocks in the South China Sea was sabotaged by Washington, the lawyer narrates.

By meddling into the region's internal affairs, the US is only adding fuel to the fire, Beijing believes. According to China, there is no need to internationalize the problem, as it can be solved efficiently by the parties concerned.

This stance is shared by Beijing's BRICS allies, Russia and India. The latest

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of Russia, China and India states that "all [South China Sea] related disputes should be addressed through negotiations and agreements between the parties concerned."

According to Ankit Panda, The Diplomat's editor, this move clearly indicates that Beijing has received not only Russia's support, but it also now has India on its side, although "since 2013, New Delhi's language on the South China Sea has matched that of the United Sates, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia and Japan."

However sophisticated the Western propaganda campaign against Beijing is, the analysis of the issue indicates that Beijing is by no means the region's troublemaker. Moreover, it is the source of development and potential prosperity for its neighbors: the China-led

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project is supposed to facilitate the region's economic growth.

 

[AndrewS]

CSIS and WSJ talking about Scarborough Shoal reclamation being a "red line"

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My comments are:

How can anyone in the Philippines be surprised that the US is not willing to go to war with China over an uninhabited rock like Scarborough Shoal? Just look at Syria or Ukraine as an example.

And given what happened the last time a "red line" was announced - the US had better be able to spell out exactly what they would do in advance and make it credible.

Plus this approach would be more effective in the Chinese context if this were done privately instead of by megaphone diplomacy. PACOM and the Filipino President should take particular note of this.

But it may be that a light-house or other small-scale monitoring facility on Scarborough Shoal may be the minimum that China will settle for.

Plus I doubt an effective containment policy will be the outcome if China does decide to pursue full-scale reclamation. Look at how the norm is that "rule of law" is very flexible in most of ASEAN and South Asia. Eg. Malaysia/Laos/Cambodia/Thailand/Myanmar/Vietnam in particular or how one-third of the Indian parliament is facing criminal charges. And signing up to a China containment policy has concrete costs involved.

 

[Lezt]

Now, if China did declare an ADIZ or reclaimed Scarborough Shoal, what could the USA do?

Cmon guys, China will not declare a ADIZ, for the very simple reason that an ADIZ is a zone outside of one's national air space. If China do view the south china sea as sovereign territory; then China won't declare an ADIZ to state the fact that the territory is not sovereign?

They might declare that violators will be escorted out of Chinese air space in the south china sea.

 

[AndrewS]

Looking at the situation, I would agree with Wolfie that an ADIZ over the SCS doesn't look like it will happen.

We've also just seen China split ASEAN - with statements of support from Brunei, Cambodia and Laos. Plus Indonesia just signed a security and economic cooperation agreement with China. Burma, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia are all sitting on the fence like normal, as they don't really want to get too involved and suffer the fallout.

 

[ahojunk]

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2016-04-27 08:01 | Xinhua | Editor: Mo Hong'e

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying speaks at a regular press briefing on April 26. (Photo/fmprc.gov.cn)​

China on Tuesday urged the United States to show respect for other countries' sovereignty and security.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the statement at a regular press briefing when asked to comment on an annual freedom of navigation report released by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on April 25.

According to the DoD Freedom of Navigation Report for the Fiscal Year 2015, the U.S. military conducted "freedom of navigation" operations against 13 countries and regions last year, including China, India and Indonesia.

The DoD said on its website that these operations aimed to preserve the rights, freedoms, and lawful use of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.

U.S. freedom of navigation operations last year challenged China's claims of jurisdiction over airspace above the Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) and restrictions on foreign aircraft flying through an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, according to the report.

"We have taken note of the U.S. report," said Hua, adding that the aim of the DoD freedom of navigation program was, in essence, to advance the U.S. unilateral proposition by force and coercion, by brandishing its naval and air power.

In 1979, the United States established the Freedom of Navigation program before the signing of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said Hua, adding that its aim was to safeguard the U.S. military's maximum freedom and maneuverability to enter the oceans of the world and challenge the new maritime order as a non-signatory of the 1982 UNCLOS.

Hua said these moves by the United States are an attempt to dominate maritime order and reflect its logic of hegemony and exceptionalism in its treatment of international law, which it uses when convenient and abandons on unfavorable conditions.

She called on the United States to do more that is truly conducive to safeguarding global maritime order as well as regional peace and stability.

Media reports said six U.S. Air Force planes performed a flight mission in "international airspace" in the vicinity of Huangyan Island in the South China Sea on April 19.

China's Ministry of National Defense on Monday said in a statement that the United States is pushing militarization of the South China Sea in the name of freedom of navigation and overflight.

China is concerned about and opposed to actions that threaten the sovereignty and security of countries around the South China Sea and undermine regional peace and stability, according to the statement.

 

[confusion]

Sounds like Taiwan is applying the language used by the Philippines against Itu Aba in its criticism of Japan's actions at Okinotori. Of course, the Western media has completed ignored this incident and is willing to look the other way and give a favored ally, Japan, a free pass on violations of international law:

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Fishermen yesterday throw eggs at the Taipei office of the Interchange Association, Japan, during a protest against Japan’s detention of a Taiwanese fishing boat earlier this week and what they said is Japan’s infringement of their rights to fish in international waters. Apr 28, 2016

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President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday vowed to safeguard the fishing rights of Taiwanese fishermen in international waters and denied Japan’s claim that the Okinotori atoll is an island.

...

During the meeting, Ma announced the government’s three-part stance on the incident, the office said.

First, based on Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Okinotori atoll, which has a total area of less than 3 ping (9.9m2), is not an island that can “sustain human habitation or economic life of their own.”

“Thus, Japan cannot claim a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone [EEZ] around the outcroppings. We will also firmly defend our fishermen’s freedom to operate in the high seas,” the office quoted Ma as saying.

Second, the government is opposed to and does not recognize Japan’s illegal expansion of rights by unilaterally defining the uninhabited rock as an “island,” Ma said, adding that Japan’s seizure of Taiwanese fishermen operating in international waters infringed on their freedom of fishing conferred by Subparagraph 5, Paragraph 1, Article 87 of the UNCLOS.

Third, the government would step up efforts to protect the nation’s fishermen operating near the atoll and safeguard their rights.

The office said Ma also instructed the Executive Yuan to adopt three measures, including a request that all levels of government agencies refer to the atoll as “Okinotori rock” rather than “Okinotori Island.”

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“Okinotori does not meet the criteria of an island as defined in Article 121 of UNCLOS since it cannot sustain human habitation and economic life of its own,” Ma said. “In addition, detaining foreign vessels working in international waters and demanding security deposits violates freedom of fishing in high seas as laid down in Article 87 of that convention.”

 

[confusion]

Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida repeats the false claim that Okinotori was classified as an island under UNCLOS

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Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on April 28 blasted Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s assertion that the Okinotorishima islands, Japan’s southernmost territory, are not islands but a rock reef.

Kishida said he lodged a protest with Taipei on April 27 through the Interchange Association, a Japanese government organization that handles problems between Japan and Taiwan.

“It is Taiwan’s own assertion and we cannot accept it,” Kishida said at a news conference on April 28.

Under international rules, a country can develop natural resources in its exclusive economic zone, a sea area within 200 nautical miles (about 370 kilometers) from the coasts of its islands or other territorial land. However, an EEZ cannot be set around rocks.

“Okinotorishima has obtained an established status as islands under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the exclusive economic zone exists around the islands,” Kishida emphasized.

China and South Korea have claimed that Okinotorishima islands are rocks.

This false claim was already refuted here, as UNCLOS ruled otherwise in 2012:

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A United Nations commission has ruled that Japan cannot classify the Okinotori atoll as an island, thereby reducing Japan's bargaining position with China, and limiting a militarily strategic vantage point.

However, according to

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, visiting researcher at the Ocean Policy Research Foundation in Tokyo, UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) does not resolve disputes, it just.rules on the technical classification...

There's also a very important statement made here that relates to UNCLOS - they only have the power to determine the technical classification of islands. Resolving disputes is outside the scope of UNCLOS, so we'll see if they follow this principle when it comes to Philippines vs China. Or, perhaps they'll just find a creative way to work around that restriction.

So, contrary to the findings of UNCLOS, Japan still insists on the falsehood that Okinotori is an island.

This article summarizes the hypocrisy, especially in light of Japan's criticisms of Chinese actions violating international law in the SCS.

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There is no question that Japan, as a world power, has pushed its small neighbor Taiwan into a corner, as we have seen in the days following Japanese authorities' seizure of a Taiwanese fishing boat and the detainment of its captain.

While Japan claims it was defending its territory from Taiwanese encroachment, in reality this is far from the truth. Japan insists Okinotori atoll, the tiny reef area south of Tokyo known as Okinotorishima in Japan, is an "island" — which thus entitles it to proclaim a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around it. Status as an island would allow Tokyo to claim 160,000 square nautical miles of ocean, an area larger than the entire landmass of Japan itself.

The claim is simply not plausible according to ocean law. Based on conditions laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Okinotori is a reef, not an island, since it is only the size of two beds (9.9 square meters). It cannot sustain human habitation and economic activity, nor can it qualify as a natural island.

The "island" originally consisted of no more than two rocks above water level, each the size of a bed. What we see today is the result of the rocks being concretized for years — a deliberate attempt to circumvent international law via a "natural island-building process" starting in 1989.

President Ma Ying-jeou, in a fierce and just defense of the area's status as open water, cried foul and called Japan's definition of the reef as an island an "illegal expansion of power" that would not be recognized by the R.O.C. government.

The Ma government had ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge a protest with Japan and demand the release of the ship and its crew. But it is going to take more than that to safeguard the rights of the fisherman, and defend their freedom to fish in international waters near the Okinotori atoll. Taiwan needs international support. Besides submitting a formal complaint to high-level international organizations, global attention needs to be directed to the extent that Japan bullied Taiwan as an excuse for muscle flexing and the advancement of national interests.

Japan's position is similar to a failed British attempt to claim an EEZ around the Rockall Plateau, granite outcropping in the Atlantic. London eventually relinquished its claim in the 1990s when other countries objected.

Experts have largely given Beijing a bad rap over its efforts to furiously develop and expand the areas of some of its islands in the South China Sea. Japan was in fact among the nations that bashed Beijing for claiming the EEZ around the islands, ironically enough, stating it had denied freedom of the seas. Also, Japan's reclamation began in 1987, well before Beijing's alleged land grab activities.

Tensions in the South China Sea have escalated in recent years, in which Taiwan has also been an active claimant. However, Taiwan had never resorted to towing and detaining vessels and sailors in the disputed waters. Despite close ties established between the two nations and maintained for decades, Japan's aggressive move risks damaging the friendly diplomatic relations they share with Taiwan.

The event may serve to prove the adage that when touching upon some issues, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. But it is in the favor of both parties that Japan and Taiwan sustain the mutual admiration and support they showed to each other in the past, including respect for one another's territory, and mutual recognition of interests.