Blackstone
Brigadier
So Malaysia has been dealing with China frequently since late 2014 over sovereignty issues, and "The Diplomat" publication (based in Japan) is just now hyping it? To what end? What's their agenda?
South China Sea Strategies for other nations (Not China)
- Thread starter PanAsian
- Start date
The way I understood the article Malaysia has been protesting "privately" to Beijing without involving the media but since China has not changed their behaviour Malaysia is now protesting more loudly.
Blackstone
Brigadier
A critical view of recent US words and actions on SCS disputes, but also points out weaknesses in PRC's position too. The entire article is too long to post, but it's well worth the read. Some important points are:
Got it in one.
I'd add Defense Secretary Ash Carter to the need-adult-supervision list too.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
QED!
joshuatree
Captain
I don't see anything improbable about Chinese Coast Guard vessels sailing near Luconia Shoals, maybe even dropping anchor for a bit. I think you mentioned the shoal is entitled to its own 12 NM of territorial sea so is it invading Malaysian EEZ if the shoal is disputed?
But I do not consider a Borneo Post article as validation that a specific Chinese CG vessel has been anchored and at station for 2 years. Infact, CCG 1123 was Haijian 23. It can't be at two places at once. It's only June 2015 and the articles below indicate the vessel was near Diaoyu less than 2 years ago and on multiple occasions. All of this means there's a lot of sensational reporting being done by the media.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Blackstone you your self said it" they perform consular duties. I said a embassy in all but name. Its a defacto embassy. With a ambassador like office held by "in active" diplomats. All the advantages none of the issues.
Blackstone
Brigadier
So, a private NGO is an embassy in all but name? I don't buy that. In reality, US has been serious and almost perfectly consistent about its "One China" policy. The lone exception was in 1995/96 when PRC fired missiles near the Taiwan coast to warn pro-independent leaders not to wander off the reservation. In response, President Clinton sent two Carrier Battle Groups near the Taiwan Strait, and Beijing had to back down. The result is a massive and sustained PRC commitment to improving and modernizing its military, with PLAN and PLAAF getting special attention. Professor Andrew Erickson of the Naval War College said you could draw a straight line from US intervention in 1995/6 to today for Chinese efforts on A2/AD, space operations, PLAAF modernization, and creating a true Blue Water Navy.
Zetageist
Junior Member
From Wall Street Journal:
June 9, 2015 7:32 p.m. ET
The Journal got the scoop Monday that the Malaysian government will loudly protest the Chinese coast guard’s incursions into its exclusive economic zone. National Security Minister Shahidan Kassim said in an interview that Prime Minister will raise the issue personally with Chinese President .
The Malaysians are upset that a Chinese coast-guard ship is anchored in the waters around the Luconia Shoals within their exclusive economic zone. The state-owned company Petronas has active gas wells nearby.
Kuala Lumpur played down such provocations in the past; Chinese ships have frequented the area for at least two years, and Malaysia made pro forma protests. The Chinese disrupted oil survey work nearby in August 2012 and January 2013. Yet Malaysia took a low-key approach when Beijing’s ally Cambodia shut down discussion of the South China Sea disputes at regional summits in 2012.
Malaysia has changed its attitude over the past year as China started reclaiming land for military bases on the disputed shoals and rocks it controls. Last year Kuala Lumpur offered to let the U.S. fly P-8 surveillance planes from Borneo airbases. At the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore at the end of May, Defense Minister Hishammuddin Husseinwarned that the dispute could “escalate into one of the deadliest conflicts of our time.” Two weeks ago Mr. Najib was in Tokyo to discuss maritime defense-technology transfer with Prime MinisterShinzo Abe.
The Malaysians used to chastise Vietnam and the Philippines for being too confrontational toward China and called for diplomatic solutions. But it didn’t do them much good. The Chinese military is using the same tactics of creeping assertiveness in the Luconia Shoals that it employed in 2012 to take Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines. Beijing’s aggressive behavior has created such fear among Southeast Asian nations that a new unity may be emerging.
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TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Sounds like Malaysia was buttering up Beijing either for a negotiated deal behind the scenes or for assurances that the PRC would leave them alone and play the territorial games elsewhere.
It seems something changed and Kuala Lumpur came to the conclusion that the Chinese Dragon was not going away and was looking to muscle them out. So now they are looking to get allied to other states who are starring down the PRC 9 dash sumo.
It seems something changed and Kuala Lumpur came to the conclusion that the Chinese Dragon was not going away and was looking to muscle them out. So now they are looking to get allied to other states who are starring down the PRC 9 dash sumo.
Blackstone
Brigadier
It's clear Beijing is committed to "Monroe Doctrine" the SCS and turn it into a de facto Chinese lake. The thing I want to know is will Beijing be audacious enough to claim not just the islands and features inside 9DL, but the water too.