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| Chinese Navy sailors patrolling the South China Sea |
The South China Sea has now been in the news for some time due to a raging regional conflict for naval dominance. The People’s Republic of China claims almost all of the South China Sea by the interpretation of its old nine-dash line, a demarcation line which was first used by the Republic of China and subsequently by the PRC.
This claim has been out rightly rejected by the regional players who have their own rival claims in the South China Sea. The regional states not only have conflicts with China but also have overlapping conflicts with each other. The primary stakeholders in this dispute include China, Taiwan, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Republic of Philippine. The South China Sea dispute mainly consists of Reefs, islands, banks and other structures including conflicting claims on the Exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of different countries.
Why the United States of America a part of the strife?
The United States of America, Japan and some other regional and global powers do not have any territorial stakes in the Sea but are active participants in pushing for freedom of navigation through the seaway. The reason for this push is the amount of trade that passes through the South China Sea each year. According to estimates, commercial traffic of worth $5 trillion goes through the South China Sea annually without adding the benefits that the owner countries can get in the form of oil exploration and fishing. According to Chinese Ministry of land and resources, the total amount of oil still needs to be explored in the South China Sea is 17.7 billion tonnes, which is more than the resources that are available in Kuwait.
Apart from the oil resources, South China Sea is also a major hub of fish supply in the region and a huge source of jobs creation in the form of fishing industry and a future hotspot for exports to Europe and other parts of the world. America being in alliance with regional competitors and with a massive naval presence in the Sea wants to take full advantage of the resources that it can tap and can use for its industrial and economic growth.
Recent situation in the South China Sea
The state of affairs made a U-turn when the newly-elected Philippine's President, Rodrigo Duterte, instead of toeing his predecessor’s line of advocating the implementation of the International Court of Arbitration’s decision started giving friendly gestures to the Chinese leadership.
He further surprised everyone when he severely criticised the then American President, Barack Obama, and praised the Chinese leadership. He is pushing for a peaceful resolution of the conflict on a bilateral level to not to alienate the Chinese leadership who have and are resisting international involvement in the dispute. Almost all of the countries mentioned above have overlapping claims and are involved in the power tussle with each other.
What lies ahead?
The South China Sea is a highly complicated dispute not only because of the number of states involved in it but also because of the economic worth of the region available in the form of annual trade that passes through it. The tremendous fishing opportunities and energy resources in the form of fossil fuels that are yet to be exploited forms another bone of contention. The show of military force, the launch of aircraft carriers, the building of structures and the raising of national flags on the disputed islands is no solution to this problem. The parties involved in the dispute should set all their differences aside and focus on finding a peaceful settlement which is acceptable to all the parties.
Let’s cross our fingers!!!!!
About Muhammad Asim
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