Chinese Lebensraum in the Pacific in the 21^st century, Part I

On Oct. 24, 2010, South Korea’s Ministry of Defense cancelled a planned joint military exercise engaging the 97,000-ton nuclear-powered carrier, USS George Washington of the U.S. Seventh Fleet - whose operational range is around 1,000 kilometers, and which covers most of Chinese Northern area including Beijing. South Korean officials justified the cancellation on the basis that the joint exercise could aggravate military tensions in the region while undermining South Korea’s endeavors to successfully host the G20 summit slated for Nov.11-12 in Seoul. South Korea and the U.S. have recently conducted joint maritime maneuvers and plan to stage additional exercises in 2010 in response to the March 26 sinking of the corvette Cheonan by North Korean torpedo, which took the lives of 46 South Korean sailors.

The biggest beneficiary of this cancellation is neither the citizens of Seoul, who are hoping for the success of G20 Summit, nor North Korea, which is preoccupied with idolizing its 26 year-old prospective leader, but rather China. China has persistently complained about the Korea-U.S. joint exercises conducted in the “international water” of the Yellow Sea. China has warned the United States and South Korea against holding the war games near its territorial seas, claiming that these activities will aggravate tensions with its long-standing ally, North Korea. China’s foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang once said "China has expressed its serious concerns with the relevant parties," adding that, "We are firmly opposed to foreign military vessels engaging in activities that undermine China's security interests in the Yellow Sea or waters close to China."

On Oct. 25, 2010, A Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary announced that Tokyo lodged a protest with Beijing through diplomatic channels over the new movement of Chinese fisheries patrol boats near the Senkaku Islands (Daoyudao in Chinese). He said that the Japanese Coast Guard found two Chinese patrol boats sailing night near the uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. On Sep. 24, 2010, the dispute stemming from Japan's arrest of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat over collisions with Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats pulled the diplomatic ties between the two Asian giants to their lowest point in the decades. In response to Japan's arrest of the Chinese captain, China enacted a set of tough measures against Japan, including restricting the exports of rare earths, tightening customs clearance procedures, and pressuring travel agencies to suspend planned trips to Japan. Still, China claims that it is exercising restraint, claiming that it only used economic measures. But if Japan tries to vigorously demonstrate its effective control over the islands, China might carry out its claim in a more forceful way.

The panda, some would say, is transforming itself to a great white shark. The main target of this hungry shark could be the nearest boat. Traditionally, China, sharing its 22,147 kilometer-long border with 14 countries, has experienced disputes and skirmishes with land-based powers, such as India, Russia, and even Vietnam. China now enjoys relatively close relationship with Russia, sharing membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In the southern areas, India is still a potential rival, but China and India are now both focused more on economic cooperation. In the ocean, however, China officially has three territorial disputes, the one with Japan over the Senkaku (or Daoyudao) Islands, one with Vietnam over the Paracel Islands, and the one with other ASEAN countries over the Spratley Islands in the South China Sea. Today’s post will focus on the Senkaku Islands; the other disputes will be considered later.

The Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyu Islands (in Chinese) or the Pinnacle Islands (in English), are a group of uninhabited islands uninhabited island in the East China. Japan, China, and Taiwan all claim the islands as their own territory. Control of these islands has been one of the most contentious issues in East Asian geopolitics since the end of World War II. Japan had occupied the Senkaku islets from 1895 until the Japanese surrender to the U.S. in 1945. The United States then administered the little archipelago through its Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands from 1945 until 1972. In 2972, Okinawa, along with the Senkaku, reverted to Japan. Both China and Taiwan claim the islands on the basis of their alleged discovery by Ming Empire’s Navy: the term ‘daoyudao’ was officially used in 1863 on a Chinese version of world map published by the Qing Dynasty, where the islands were described as falling under the control of Fu-Jien (Fujian) Province. China argues that Japan illegally annexed these Chinese islands during the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Japan claims that the islands were the part of Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa), and after the annexation of Ryukyu to Japan in 1879, Ryukyu fishermen stopped to use the islands as a shelter for maritime rescue, and they became uninhabited ones. In 1895, Japan occupied and publicly annexed the Senkaku islands without objection from the international community at the time, Japan claims, China voiced no opposition. Japan insists that the PRC and Taiwan started to claim the islands only after natural gas deposits were discovered in 1969. As the Senkaku had been under the U.S .Civil Administration of the Ryukyu from 1945 until 1972, Tokyo claims, they are rightfully Japanese territory. To better stake it claims, Japan has been managing a lighthouse on one of the islets since 2005.

The second part of my blog will cover the disputes over the Paracel, the Spratley and Chinese First and Second Islands chains for its security. Posted by Kim Kwang Woo.