The US Navy said on July 13 that its Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is carrying out a routine mission in the South China Sea, the first time the fleet cruised the South China Sea this year. Earlier that day, the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG-65) illegally trespassed into China’s territorial waters off Xisha Islands without the Chinese government’s permission. The Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces to conduct tracking and monitoring on the US destroyer and warned it off.
According to analysts, the US increasingly takes the South China Sea as an important link of its “China containment” strategy and is trying a new pattern of competing with China in the region. “Facts have once again proved that the US is nothing but a ‘security risk maker in the South China Sea’ and a ‘destroyer of regional peace and stability’,” said Air Force Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesperson for the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command.
In addition to constant muscle-flexing and tension-agitating in the South China Sea, the US has taken a series of moves on the Asian Pacific security issue recently. Series of moves and the consequent “security dilemma” are the results of America’s pursuit of “absolute security”, said Jin Canrong, a professor at the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there was a short period when the US almost achieved the “absolute security” that it desired, which it believes has been undermined by China’s growing military strengths in recent years. When Washington found itself unable to have its way with China and unwilling to accept “relative security”, it began to lose the balance of mind.
Professor Jin Canrong pointed out that China develops military forces for the purpose of preserving national security rather than threatening or defeating the US. There is no such thing as a “security dilemma” between the two countries. The US must give up the pursuit of “absolute security” because that only means absolute “insecurity” for other countries.
Apart from the imbalance of mind, said Professor Jin, another factor that has worsened the regional security environment is America’s refusal to accept the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). According to the Convention, which is recognized by the majority of countries, every country is entitled to a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles, a contiguous zone of 24 nautical miles, and an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles. However, the US insisted on following the traditional law of the sea, according to which the territorial sea measures only three nautical miles, and has used that as an excuse to exercise the so-called “freedom of navigation” and deploy forces to contain China.
According to Professor Jin, if the US can accept “relative security” and the 1982 UNCLOS, many regional security conflicts would go away. That requires substantial changes on the American side, and it won’t come along any time soon.
Editor’s note: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
