"China will lose its plot to monopolize the East Sea"
Although China wants to occupy “every inch” of the East Sea, one day Beijing will lose this “bet”, according to an article published by Forbes yesterday, July 1.
In the article, journalist Panos Mourdoukoutas wrote that, in the gamble to occupy the East Sea, China is fighting alone against the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
China also opposes the US, Japanese, Australian, British and French navies, which have been, are, and will be sending warships to patrol and exercise freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) in this busy and $5 trillion a year commercial sea route.
Recently, when receiving US Secretary of Defense James Mattis in Beijing, President Xi Jinping declared that China loves peace but does not accept "losing even an inch of land that our ancestors passed down to their descendants."
Journalist Mourdoukoutas explains why Chinawant to counter all of them. The first reason is that the South China Sea plays a very important role in Beijing's vision: China must become a global economic power surpassing the US. And that is the beginning of the One Belt, One Road (BRI) project initiated by Mr. Xi.
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| Xi Jinping inspected a naval parade in the East Sea. |
The journalist quoted Malaysian contractor Vijay Eswaran: "China's maritime silk road starts from the South China Sea. They see themselves as having a more significant role in maritime trade in the future."
The second reason, according to Mr. Vijay, is that Beijing views the East Sea as its own property: "Above all, China wants to monopolize the exploitation of the resources hidden under the East Sea. That is why they built artificial islands."
Third reason: Occupying the South China Sea would stimulate nationalism which is necessary to support and strengthen political institutions in China.
Mr. Vijay also said that China does not see any of its neighbors as a threat, and that it has used intimidation to ensure that its neighbors do not make such claims.
In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague declared that China has no "historical sovereignty" over the East Sea, and rejected the "nine-dash line map" that China drew itself, citing reasons to affirm "sovereignty over the South China Sea since ancient times", Beijing's way of calling the East Sea.
The ruling was from a lawsuit filed by the Philippine government during President Aquino's term, but when Rodrigo Duterte took power, Beijing made moves to threaten to attack the Philippines, then promised "huge" investments to help the Philippines deal with many problems.According to journalist Mourdoukoutas, these moves were effective, Mr. Duterte quickly forgot the PCA ruling, and recently, Beijing used the "Duterte model" to threaten to attack other countries' oil and gas facilities.
However, many naval forces are ready to challenge China's ambitions, such as the US, UK and France, which have, are and will conduct FONOP patrols.
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| The US ship USS Stethem is present in the East Sea. Photo: USNayy |
Meanwhile, investors in the region's financial markets should also pay attention to developments that will push China closer to a major conflict with the US and its allies, he also reminded.
