Beijing tries to soothe West Philippine Sea jitters

BEIJING—China on Saturday sought to soothe tensions over its South China Sea claims, saying it will avoid the use of force in the region as the United States ponders sending warships close to territory claimed by the Asian giant.

Speaking at the Xiangshan regional defense forum in Beijing, Fan Changlong, vice chair of China’s Central Military Commission, pledged that the country would “never recklessly resort to the use of force, even on issues bearing on sovereignty.”

“We have done our utmost to avoid unexpected conflicts,” Fan added.

The United States says that China’s transformation of South China Sea reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities presents a threat to freedom of navigation, and defense officials have hinted they may soon use naval forces to test Chinese claims.

But Fan said that the projects were mainly intended for civilian use and “will not affect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.”

“Instead, they will enable us to provide better public services to aid navigation and production in the South China Sea,” he said.

The argument is one Beijing has made many times before, but satellite images of the islands published by the US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies have shown as many as three runways on the islands that could accommodate fighter jets, raising concerns about China’s true intentions.

Freedom of navigation

Speaking in Washington this week, Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said the United States would continue to sail wherever international law allowed.

While no American officials spoke at the event, the country’s retired Chief of Naval Operations Gary Roughead used his time on a morning panel to take China to task for its behavior.

“The rapid expansion of land features in the vital sea-lanes of the South China Sea heightens suspicion and presents the potential for miscalculation,” he said.

The construction, he added, “raises legitimate questions regarding militarization.”

“I do not see an influx of tourists clamoring to visit these remote islands,” he said.

‘Unintentional incidents’

The dispute between the two Goliaths, the region’s largest military and economic powers, has unnerved members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), who are caught in the middle of the standoff.

Speaking to reporters after Fan’s remarks, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the United States has briefed him on its plans, but “counterreaction by major powers in the region sometimes is beyond the control of small nations.”

“My concern is unintended, accidental, unintentional incidents in the high sea, especially between two major powers,” he said.

Hussein was one of several cabinet-level participants attending the event from the 10-member Asean bloc, which includes Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, all of which have rival South China Sea claims.

Taiwan, a non-Asean member, is also a claimant.

China claims nearly all of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea, crisscrossed by vital sea-lanes through which $5 trillion in global trade passes every year and where islets, atolls and reefs are believed to be sitting atop vast oil and gas reserves.

Beijing has seized Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea, part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone recognized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It has also seized several Philippine-claimed reefs in the Spratly archipelago, building artificial islands on them, with at least two—Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef) and Zamora Reef (Subi Reef)—now having airstrips that can receive military planes.

Last week, China completed lighthouses on two other Philippine-claimed reefs in the Spratlys, Calderon Reef (Cuarteron Reef) and Mabini Reef (Johnson South Reef).

The two reefs are also claimed by Vietnam, which has protested the Chinese construction.

The Philippines has taken its territorial dispute with China to the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague for resolution, but China has refused to take part in the proceedings and said it will not accept any ruling by the tribunal.

Fan’s “statement was reassuring to us all,” Hussein said in remarks during a morning session of the defense forum, but cautioned that the best way to deal with concerns was the establishment of a code of conduct for claimants in the region.

Asean has for years called on China to negotiate such an agreement, which would put into place a binding set of rules aimed at preventing actions that lead to conflict.

Global influence

The Xiangshan forum is a security dialogue China has recently pushed as part of a broader effort to increase its global influence.

Fan said China would accelerate the establishment of an 8,000-member standby force for UN peacekeeping missions promised by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the United Nations last month, as well as a commitment to train 2,000 foreign peacekeepers over the next five years.

China, he said, will also pursue expanded military cooperation with Asean members.

That includes exploring the possibility of establishing hot lines and exchanging liaison officers between their militaries, Fan said.

Vietnam’s defense minister will speak about maritime security issues during a panel on Sunday.

An official from the Philippines will also appear during the conference.

Hanoi has repeatedly accused China of ramming its fishing boats as they ply local waters, while Manila has infuriated Beijing by taking their dispute to the United Nations for arbitration. Reports from AFP and AP