Chinas military modernization has included structural reforms establishing a Joint Operations Command and five new theatre commands (Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western and Central). Nevertheless, for America, this new world will be profoundly discomfiting and even alien. The United States can, if necessary, accept a continental Southeast Asia that leans China without major concern for Americas primary interests. India is training crews for Vietnams new Kilo-class submarines and will sell Vietnam BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. Few in Washington were inclined to see the South China Sea as a strategic priority engaging vital U.S. national interests. Since the mid-1990s, China has pursued a strategy . China, for example, has asserted a maritime claim to a large majority of the South China Sea that is not consistent with international law. Importantly, the countries of maritime Southeast Asia are not aligning only with the United States, but with a grouping of external states concerned with the nature of Chinas rise. The increasing activity of Beijing in the South China Sea, Consequences of US-China rivalry in Indo-Pacific and beyond, Balancing the giants: Australia between China and US. The Thai people are lurching towards a new political arrangement, a process that Thais have to see through for themselves. The Obama administration has made modest gains in this regard, but it will be up for to the next president to seize that opportunity and ensure that Southeast Asias future is prosperous, peaceful and free. In 2016, they carried fully one-third of global shipping with an estimated value of $3.4 trillion. In a context of great power competition, the South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as an arena of U.S.-China strategic competition. A U.S. Navy crewman aboard a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft views a computer screen purportedly showing Chinese construction on the reclaimed land of Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. China's strategic reach into the South China Sea has obvious and profound implications for three sets of international actors: (1) the littoral Southeast Asian states (Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines); (2) major maritime countries heavily dependent on the sea lanes through the South China Sea (including Japan, Korea, and The United States now has the opportunity to secure for another generation the peace that has held in Asia for nearly four decades now. The United States and its Pacific allies should consider whether it is feasible and sensible to coordinate the activities of USAID, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. by M A Hossain 3 March 2023 The geostrategic significance of Bangladesh derives from its strategic location at the crossroads of South and Southeast Asia, endowing it with a pivotal role in the re Stay Connected! Importantly, American access to four airbases (with potentially more to be made available at a later date)especially those on Luzon and Palawanwill make U.S. air power resident in Southeast Asia. The isolationist China has never traditionally had a deep water navy, with a significant power projection capability; however the production of its first aircraft carrier (Liaoning) has been a noteworthy change from a soft power in the land environment to a hard power projection at sea stance. At the economic front, it is estimated that an annual global trade of $5.3 trillion passes through the SCS. Successful capacity building efforts will allow Southeast Asian states to better help themselves, bolstering deterrence against low-level Chinese coercion and allowing the U.S. military to focus more on deterring high-level contingencies. The sea is rich in resources and holds significant strategic and political importance. 2016 The Arbitration Tribunal rules in favor of the Philippines. The United States needs to maintain a difficult balancing act, supporting the democratic aspirations of the Thai people while remaining a security and economic partner of choice for the elites and armed forces. You can update your choices at any time in your settings. Nevertheless, Beijing had taken its first overt step to control the South China Sea. The conflict and tension over competing sovereignty claims in the South China Sea has grown considerably in the past 5-10 years. The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea. The South China Sea is basically China's export waterway to Africa and to Europe (among other markets), but in order for China's enemy (aspiring conqueror), America, to harm and weaken China maximally, and to use the United Nations assisting in that aggression, America and its allies have cast this vital trade-waterway as being instead basically just an area to be exploited for oil and gas . The two major power of the world i.e. The Korean War produced formal defense treaties with each of these countries plus a new, permanent military presence in South Korea. Washington (United States of America), February 27 (ANI): A Chinese J-11 fighter jet armed with air-to-air missiles intercepted the US Navy reconnaissance jet over the South China Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported. As one of the busiest trade routes in the world and home to a wealth of marine and mineral resources, the South China Sea holds great economic and geostrategic importance. Recent satellite analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies shows that Chinese fishing fleets are engaged in paramilitary work on behalf of the state rather than the commercial enterprise of fishing, the organization reported. The South China Sea is one such essential waterway, made more important by the value of the sea's fisheries and subsea resources such as natural gas. Unfortunately, the allies now lack a shared strategic outlook, thus reducing the impetus to overcome recent bilateral political hurdles. the South China Sea that would be " - S " ["permitting a leaf to obscure one's view of the mountain"]. Final Thoughts & Looking Towards the Future. The sea-lanes that pass through the South China Sea are the busiest, most important, maritime waterways in the world. It was the first time that had ever occurred. It will always have an eye on the need to protect itself against attack from the sea, but there's much more to China's vulnerability than potential invasion or bombardment. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW The South China Sea is considered a "near sea" and its geographic proximity to the mainland is central to the China's strategic imagination and threat perception. In a meeting attended by the foreign ministers of 26 nations from the broader region, Clinton simply asserted that the South China Sea was subject to multiple territorial claims and a multinational mechanism should be established to find a peaceful diplomatic solution. WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the disputed South China Sea has a strategic significance for the international community and any "unlawful" restriction on the freedom of the seas will destabilise peace in the Asia-Pacific region. The main route to and from Pacific and Indian ocean ports is through the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. Giving ground on vital interests in Asia will not encourage greater cooperation on global issues. In 2010, the US declared its freedom of navigation in the SCS to be a national interest in response to Chinas increasingly assertive posture. Anil Trigunayat, 5th Generation Warfare: A Real Global Warming (Alarming) and its Implications for Pakistan, The Geopolitics of Indo-Pacific: the Rise of India and the Possible Challenges for Pakistan, 75 Years of Pakistan's Independence: Audit of Achievements and Failures, Bacterial Attack on Azerbaijani Oil a fictitious scenario, Pakistan, from the Shackles of Oligarchy to the Emergence of Democracy, Impact of Climate Change on Flood-Stricken People in Balochistan, Dimensions of Religion: Use, Misuse and Beyond, Breaking Free from Fossil Fuels: Why Nuclear Energy is Significant for Pakistan, Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education and Scientific Research: an interview with Fatima Roumate, Dalits, the Bottom of Indias Caste Ladder. Tackling these issues will be tricky for the United States, as many of the elites that benefit from corruption will be those with whom Washington must work to deepen ties, but this is a long-term effort worth pursuing. That claim remained shrouded in a calculated fog of ambiguity until 2010 when Secretary of State Clinton addressed the status of the South China Sea and its sea-lanes at a meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi. In each of these arenas, a successful Chinese effort to seize control of the South China Sea will have a profound impact and each is worth elaboration. Therefore, the US plays a key role in influencing the resolution of the SCS disputes. India and Vietnam, while acknowledging the strategic importance of the SCS and their volatile position when it comes to China's rising power, are edging closer toward each other. The area includes several hundred small islands, rocks, and reefs, with the majority located in the Paracel and Spratly Island chains. As a result of this shift, China now seeks to control sea lines of communication, ensure national prosperity and continue economic growth and national greatness; the South China Sea plays a massive part in this. To counter Chinas efforts to control the South China Sea, the United States needs a sustainable strategy to bolster its own capabilities, work more effectively with capable allies and partners, and strengthen the regional order. South China Sea or even some part of its strategically significant zones will provide the sovereign nation state significant seat in global trade agreements. U.S. access to the military facilities on the South China Seas southern flank, however, would shift the regions balance of power in Americas favor. To facilitate capacity building, Washington should preserve regional defense relationships while recognizing that the ability of the United States to partner with frontline states depends on their cooperation and adherence to good governance and human rights. The same cannot be said for China and a maritime Southeast Asia that aligns with the United States. 2013 The Philippines challenges Chinas claims of historic rights and other actions in an arbitration case under the Law of the Sea Convention. The global focus of economic power has traditionally been centred over the west with the UK and the USA as the key contributors; however in recent years, this has shifted east (see Figure 1), with the main reason for this being rapid urbanization in developing countries, in particular China.