Sea folly and US-China relations

Greg Raymond, canberratimes.com.au

Image from entry, with caption: US patrols are active in the South China Sea, but a more innovative solution is needed.

Excerpt:

After months of increasing concerns about China's land reclamation in the South China Sea, going back to at least May, the United States decision to conduct a patrol within 12 nautical miles of reclaimed Chinese land in the Spratly Islands this week is not surprising. ...

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), US naval vessels have certain rights to freedom of navigation, as do all vessels. The US and other countries, including Britain, interpret this freedom to include the innocent passage of warships within the territorial seas of coastal states.

China sees the matter differently, believing that warships should provide notification before passing through another state's territorial sea. ...

[W]hile the probability of a confrontation or collision arising from the patrols is low, in the current geopolitical climate it is not zero. ...

The problem with the patrols is not that they are wrong, but that they are sub-optimal. It would be better to find a way of communicating concern and resolve against China's unilateralism in a way that did not carry risk of military conflict and further militarisation of the dispute. ...

Public diplomacy must be given a role. The fact is that China's educated middle-classes barely acknowledge that there is a dispute in the South China Sea – they believe China's claim is right and unassailable. Public diplomacy has a role to play in at least enlightening the Chinese public to the fact that other claimants believe equally passionately and adamantly in their claims. ...

Then there is the question of Australia's role.

Australia, as has been stated many times, has a legitimate interest in the peace and security of the South China Sea not least for the trade on which our economy depends. Would our diplomats have the courage to engage China's government on the joint production of a YouTube video that, hosted on the Australian Embassy Beijing's website, told the story of the South China Sea from multiple perspectives, including China's? ...