China committed to upholding peace, stability in S. China Sea island-building, rejects US criticism to isolate China in Asia

Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of staff of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) addresses the fourth plenary session of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, May 31, 2015. Sun Jianguo elaborated on China's foreign and defense policies. (Xinhua/Bao Xuelin)

http://english.cntv.cn/2015/06/01/VIDE1433110801945569.shtml

• 

  China committed to upholding peace, stability in South China Sea

China must insist on island-building

During the just-concluded Shangri-La Dialogue, military representatives from China and the US did not engage in the bitter brawling predicted by the media. Both sides have reaffirmed their own stance. US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter asked all claimants, especially China, to cease island-building in the South China Sea, and by cautiously skirting around the question of how the US will respond if China continues its construction activities, Carter didn't issue further threats against China.

But the US is still able to launch more provocations in this region, perhaps by sending surveillance planes and warships to the periphery of 12 nautical miles from China-controlled islands.

No matter how disturbing the US can be, China must not stop its construction, which is in line with China's sovereign integrity. If Beijing backs off due to Washington's threats and some Western countries' protests, this will create a horrific precedent, which will embolden US-led forces to set tougher positions against China. China should try its best to inject prosperity into the South China Sea, promoting regional economic development and enhancing its disaster resistance ability. Only in this way will the ongoing quarrels calm down.

If China can play its cards right, these expanded islands will not only prevent the South China Sea situation from becoming intensified, but initiate a new constructive thinking for regional development. China's construction activities will offer an opportunity to break the vicious circle that has been haunting the South China Sea for decades.

These expanded islands will allow China to acquire more initiative to carry out its South China Sea policies. For now, it is China that values regional peace more than any other state, because the stability of the South China Sea is a prerequisite for China to make use of this important period of strategic opportunities.

As of now, military confrontation is still the last choice for all stakeholders in the South China Sea. However, different desires and expectations have caused the complexity in the South China Sea issues. When China can set a firm foothold in the area, it will bring along more elements that can drive peace and stability.

China needs to make broad plans including countermeasures against more US intrusions. Beijing should be fully prepared, both mentally and physically, for possible military conflicts with the US. China needs to clearly express its unwillingness as well as fearlessness to fight. The more prepared China can be, the lower the possibility of military conflict.

This round of contest in the South China Sea is more like a strategic dialogue, through which China and the US can come up with a set of models and principles under which they can show mutual respect around China's offshore areas.

If China insists on its island construction, publicizes its peaceful purposes, and avoids making these expanded islands a focal point of Sino-US military competition, we believe it will be eventually accepted by the widest number of parties concerned. - Global Times

Related:

China rejects US criticism of sea reclamations

U.S. Seeks to Isolate China in Asia, But Not Too Much

PLA sends positive message on Asia Pacific security

• China has bigger role in regional dialogue
• China to uphold peace, stability

Related Posts:
 

US dangerous gamble in S. China Sea, tarnishing China’s image to scare ASEAN; S'pore PM keynote address

South China Sea Dispute: Tension escalates between China and U.S US takes dangerous gamble in S.China Sea US Defense Secretary As...

Xiangshan Defence Forum: Regional military chiefs hail Beijing's security proposal

Photo taken on Nov. 21, 2014 shows the scene of the plenary meeting of the 5th Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, capital of China. The two-day X...

China's plan to lead the globe?

As tensions in the South China Sea between the US and China continue to rise, the US Navy and Air Force are quietly gearing up to fight a war in the disputed region.

If necessary, that is. Both sides say they don’t want any military confrontation on China’s extensive coastal waters, but both are acting as if a military conflict is increasingly likely.

Optimists say that a peaceful resolution of China’s rise as a great power is achievable. The economies of the two powers are so enmeshed that a war sounds unthinkable.

Such is the thesis of an important new book just out, “The China Dream,’ by Professor General Liu Mingfu (px), a leading Chinese military thinker and commentator who speaks with the voice of China’s military.

US-China trade accounted for $579 billion last year. Beijing holds $1.2 trillion of US Treasury securities, thus financing a big part of America’s massive trade deficit. China claims its low-cost exports to the US saved American consumers $600 billion in recent years.

China only wants its place in the sun, say its strategists, using the same words as German strategists did before World War I. It’s time for a multi-polar world. The age of American world empire is over, writes Liu Mingfu, words that will not endear him to Republican hawks and neoconservatives.

Pessimists retort that Britain and Germany fought two world wars even though they were major trading partners. History is replete with examples of rising powers eventually going to war with the status quo powers resisting their rival’s economic and military growth. The Franco-British-Russian alliance against Germany prior to World War I is a perfect example.

One need not be a swami to see that China’s surging power will soon clash with that of the American hegemon. The battle lines are already drawn: China’s aggressive claims to the South China Sea – viewed by the US Navy as an American lake. Taiwan. Tensions over Burma. Korea. China’s access to the open seas.

According to Prof. General Liu, the days of America’s world domination, or hegemony, as he terms it, are just about over. By 2030, China will be the world’s largest economy in absolute terms (today it rivals the US in purchasing power parity), regaining the geopolitical primacy it formerly enjoyed until the 1500’s when it was the world’s leading economic power.

The US must find a way to accommodate China’s growing power, a point also made for many years by this writer. A policy of containment is not likely to work unless India becomes a principal participant. My first book “War at the Top of the World” deals with the scenario of a future India-China war in the Himalayas, Karakoram and Burma. India has been very cautious in joining any American-sponsored alliance against China.

Liu writes that America must quietly cede some of its power to China in the same manner that the British Empire did to the United States after 1900. The United States and China must share power and jointly rule the world as benign hegemons.

He insists that China has no territorial ambitions and never will. “China suffered 470 foreign invasions within 65 years from 1840 to 1905,” asserts Liu, though incursions would be a more accurate term. During this period, China was raped and pillaged by the western colonial powers and Japan. Hatred of Japan seethes throughout Liu’s book, as it does among most Chinese.

One could argue that China’s annexation or ‘reunification’ of Tibet and Sinkiang were aggressions. China considers them part of historical China, along with truant province Taiwan.

Liu points out that China never invaded or seized its smaller neighbors Korea, Burma, Thailand, or Laos.

Instead, China’s emperors always preferred to dominate without aggression so that its smaller neighbors respected the will of China and acted respectfully – rather as the United States in the 20th century with Latin America. China, writes Liu, wants peace and prosperity in order to keep growing its economy. China remains an inward-looking colossus, content to be the Middle Kingdom.

America, according to the undiplomatic Liu, is a paranoid giant, afraid of the outside world and addicted to the need for enemies abroad. “Americans feel lost without any enemy.” Washington’s occupation and despoliation of so many countries, notably in the Muslim world, generates endless enemies and a war psychosis. America, he claims, is a half-democracy: democratic at home but promoting dictatorships abroad. He seems to believe that China is as democratic at home as the US – a claim that defies reality.

Liu asserts that China is devoted to peaceful relations, non-interference in other nations, and the desire to help build world prosperity, not just its own power or political system. What’s more, Liu modestly asserts, China should lead world development since Chinese are more intelligent and cultured than any other people and heirs to a 5,000-year history!

Interestingly, Liu depicts the 1950 Korean War as a major victory for China because it showed that an Asian nation could fight off the world’s greatest military power. He claims that the US did not invade North Vietnam out of fear of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army after its bloody experience in Korea.

Will Washington back off and allow China to be the master of Asia? It seems highly doubtful. But unless some kind of modus vivendi is found, a military confrontation is likely to follow, one that the US might very well loose. China would be fighting virtually at home or just off its coast. The US, by contrast, would fight thousands of miles across the Pacific from its distant bases. The US might even win, but China would undoubtedly come back for more.

The “China Dream” thesis has been actively taken up by China’s communist leadership. But two things might derail China’s rise to world domination. First, China’s history is replete with example of internal strife, civil wars, and regionalism. This “Chinese curse” could come back to haunt Beijing.

Second, as I read Liu’s panegyric to Chinese greatness and peaceful humanism, I kept recalling Lord Acton’s wise maxim about absolute power corrupting absolutely. It happened in Washington, and there’s no reason why it might not occur in Beijing.

 By Eric S. Margolis who is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune the Los Angeles Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the Khaleej Times, Nation – Pakistan, Hurriyet, – Turkey, Sun Times Malaysia and other news sites in Asia. http://ericmargolis.com/

Related post:

US dangerous gamble in S. China Sea, tarnishing China’s image to scare ASEAN; S'pore PM keynote address

South China Sea Dispute: Tension escalates between China and U.S US takes dangerous gamble in S.China Sea US Defense Secretary As...

US dangerous gamble in S. China Sea, tarnishing China’s image to scare ASEAN; S'pore PM keynote address

South China Sea Dispute: Tension escalates between China and U.S

US takes dangerous gamble in S.China Sea

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday claimed that China's actions in the South China Sea would bring countries in the region together in new ways and the US will continue to beef up its engagement in the Asia-Pacific at the increasing demands of those nations. "There should be no mistake in this, the US will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows," Carter said.

Freedom of flight over and navigation in the South China Sea in no way means that US military planes and vessels can bluntly defy the legal construction activities of China. Based on international law, China will resist any sabotage of its island construction within its own sovereignty and will carry the activities through to the end.

Washington is taking dangerous gamble in the South China Sea. With aggressive US interference, there has been much speculation about the possibility of a US-China military clash in the region. Washington hopes this will convert into pressure on China. It may not expect a compromise from China over island construction, but hopes China would be psychologically burdened in its maritime development.

Is the China-US relationship approaching a tipping point? Some Chinese scholars hold that the US is merely flying a kite. It's testing China's determination and strategy to counterstrike US provocation. It's probable that the US military and diplomatic circles haven't yet reached a consensus. Washington will make the decision after assessing China's reaction.

Nonetheless, Washington has taken a step in displaying its hard-line stance toward China. Some Americans are highly vigilant of China's newly released military strategy white paper, but they can't be unrestrained in showing their anxiety. How could China, the world second-largest economy, neglect maritime security?

China has made it clear that relevant facilities under construction will be used for peaceful regional development and cooperation. The US suspects the sites may be turned into military outposts to confront US maritime hegemony. But those reefs and islets are China's own territory. Blocking China's legitimate actions out of imaginary worries and suspicions is a blunt violation of the norms of international relations and diplomatic principles.

At a time when China is having strong momentum of development and seeking external cooperation for implementing the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, it's unnecessary for China to divert attention by building military outposts.

The dangerous provocation of the US, driven by their illusion of the worst-case scenario, is unwise and reckless. It is pressing Beijing to act in compliance with Washington's desire. However, China won't dance to the rhythm of the US.

US tarnishing China’s image to scare ASEAN

The 14th Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, opened Friday in Singapore. US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and the Chinese People's Liberation Army's deputy chief of staff Sun Jianguo will both give speeches there. The South China Sea issue is expected to be the focus point of this annual meeting.

Before Carter arrived in Singapore, he made strong remarks about China, claiming that China's land reclamation in the South China Sea will push countries in this region to join hands with the US. It is becoming an increasingly prominent theme for the US in its efforts to drive a wedge into the cooperation between China and the ASEAN countries.

It is true that territory disputes exist in the South China Sea. But the region has the capability to digest the disputes gradually. The blunt interference by the US is worsening the South China Sea disputes. The risk of friction between China and the US over the sea is rising.

China is ASEAN's largest trade partner, while ASEAN is China's third largest trade partner. Cooperation between China and ASEAN is the foundation of regional prosperity. The US is losing in the competition for economic cooperation in this region. It is desperately trying to find a way to fill in this gap.

Regional countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam need outside powers to balance a regional power. The US has been taking advantage of their interests in this regard.

Now China is painted as a pursuer of regional hegemony, and the monitoring of China's attempts to artificially expand islets in the South China Sea have become landmark moves to put a hold on China's supposed hegemonic efforts.

This is a situation that Washington is pleased to see. But China and ASEAN countries will have to pay the prices for the US pivot to the Asia-Pacific.

Some are worried that China may use the expanded islets as outposts for military aggression against neighboring countries. But such confrontations are not in China's interest. China's latest "One Belt, One Road" initiative promotes developing trade with countries, including those along the "maritime silk road."

The biggest challenge for China is to find a difficult and subtle balance between its own national interests and regional peace. Some countries wish China to sacrifice its own interests for regional peace. This is unrealistic.

We emphasize an Asia of the Asians, because we believe only Asians really care about Asia's peace and stability, and still remembers the pains of past turmoil. The US will not take responsibility for Asia's prosperity, let alone sacrifice itself for Asian countries. ASEAN countries must be clear about this

Source:Global Times Published: 2015-5-29 & 30 Posted in: Editorial

Related
 

Hope lies beyond Sino-Japanese stalemate

Onus on US to cool South China Sea heat

White paper aims at PLA transparency

 

 China exercises 'maximum restraint' on South China Sea issues

While China has a firm resolve to defend the country's national sovereignty, maritime rights and interests, it advocates solving disputes through negotiation and maintains "maximum restraint".

 Ambassador Cui Tiankai’s Interview with the Wall Street Journal on South China SeaOn May 28, 2015, Ambassador Cui Tiankai had an interview with Mr. Adam Horvath, World Editor of the Wall Street Journal. The following is 

Related posts:

Who owns the South China Sea islets in the eyes of the world?

Apr 24, 2012

She stated on July 23, 2010 at the ASEAN meeting in Hanoi: "Legitimate claims to maritime space in the South China Sea should be derived SOLELY from legitimate claims to land features." Translation: Why China has claim ...

 
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Keynote Address at Shangri-La Dialogue 2015