US Navy exercise in South China Sea is dangerous and provocative
When dust settles from the contentious American election, new president will have to show greater sensitivity in dealing with disputes far from US borders
The avoidance of misunderstanding has long been key to peace and stability in the South China Sea. The latest “freedom of navigation” exercise by the US Navy in disputed waters did not serve this purpose. Rather, the timing and the circumstances of a warship’s patrol off the Paracel Islands on Friday understandably upset China and brought a very strong reaction from Beijing.
What US officials described as a challenge to “excessive maritime claims” near Triton and Woody islands cannot be discussed in isolation from the visit to Beijing by the Philippines’ new leader, President Rodrigo Duterte, for talks in which the two sides decided to put the South China Sea dispute behind them and move forward.
As a key ally of Manila in its territorial dispute with China, the United States has said its role was to support the Philippines as a neutral player without territorial claims, concerned only to ensure innocent maritime passage and navigation rights and that no conflicts arose from the use of force to claim territory. In this respect the Pentagon says Friday’s exercise in showing the flag was long planned.
But the timing would have been ironic if it was not so troubling. Duterte’s trip to Beijing, after all, had also been long planned, and his mission to defuse maritime tensions inflamed by an international tribunal ruling against Beijing’s claims widely reported. There was no danger of conflict breaking out at such a time. As for safety of navigation, the South China Sea, unlike troubled waters in other parts of the world, is not known for piracy or interception and hijacking of shipping.
