The Jakarta Post
Tensions in the South China Sea are ratcheting upward. China and the
Southeast Asian nations with competing territorial claims seem set on a
collision course. Though still low, the probability of conflict is
rising inexorably.
At this point, the focus should not be on resolving the competing claims, but on lowering temperatures and getting all sides to implement confidence-building measures. Only when cooler heads prevail can the claimant countries turn their attention to resolving the longer-term question of sovereignty and jurisdiction over the disputed islands and adjacent waters, whether through negotiation, adjudication, or joint development.
The forty-year history of disputes in the South China Sea has seen a steady escalation in tension punctuated by occasional conflicts that have been quickly contained. Based on the vaguely defined “nine-dash line” (reduced from eleven dashes in 1953), China claims sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands and their adjacent seas in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). On the ASEAN side are Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam, which have more modest, but nevertheless competing, claims that overlap with each other and with China.
At this point, the focus should not be on resolving the competing claims, but on lowering temperatures and getting all sides to implement confidence-building measures. Only when cooler heads prevail can the claimant countries turn their attention to resolving the longer-term question of sovereignty and jurisdiction over the disputed islands and adjacent waters, whether through negotiation, adjudication, or joint development.
The forty-year history of disputes in the South China Sea has seen a steady escalation in tension punctuated by occasional conflicts that have been quickly contained. Based on the vaguely defined “nine-dash line” (reduced from eleven dashes in 1953), China claims sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands and their adjacent seas in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). On the ASEAN side are Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam, which have more modest, but nevertheless competing, claims that overlap with each other and with China.
