New and Reinforced

Image: Japan Coast Guard/AFPChina stepped up its patrols near the Diaoyu Islands.

Beijing creates new municipality to govern disputed waters in hardening stance over South China Sea

BEIJING — In the latest sign that China will not back down on its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the government is creating a new prefecture-level ‘city’ called Sansha to govern the more than 200 islets, sandbanks and reefs there, including disputed areas.

The municipality of Sansha, which will also have a military force, will oversee the three islands of Xisha and Nansha — which are also claimed by Vietnam — as well as Zhongsha. The waters around the islands are also the subject of overlapping territorial claims.

The move will afford better protection to fishermen and the oil, gas, fishery and tourism resources in the South China Sea, Wu Shicun, director of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies told official Xinhua news agency in a July 17 report.

On Tuesday, an organising committee was set up to establish the legislative body for Sansha, kicking off the official process to establish the city. Officials are also talking about launching tourist cruises between Sansha and the nearby tropical island of Hainan island.

This marks a turning point in China’s South Sea policy, said commentator He Liangliang on Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV.

China, which had announced its plans to create Sansha back in June, had previously been very low-key about it but now, in response to public support for a stronger stand, China has “turned from passive to aggressive”, He said.

In another sign of China’s hardening stance, a fleet of 30 fishing boats from Hainan, guarded by patrol vessels, sailed into the disputed waters of Nansha island on Monday to start a fishing expedition that could take up to ten days. The fleet is the biggest ever launched from Hainan island.

“In the South China Sea issue, China’s maritime strategy is turning from maintaining stability to safeguarding sovereignty,” said Jin Canrong, associate dean of the international studies’ school at Renmin University, said in a People’s Daily feature on July 16.

China’s latest attempts to reinforce its territorial claims in the South China Sea comes after members of the Southeast Asian grouping ASEAN attempted to draft China into a code of conduct for the area. ASEAN had also been expected to put out a diplomatic communiqué at the end of the annual summit last Friday but failed to do so due to internal disagreements. ASEAN members have overlapping claims in the South China Sea with China and with one another.

“Manila attempted to exert pressure on China through ASEAN, but the request was rejected by the majority of members. Tokyo yesterday withdrew its ambassador to China after a series of protests,” noted the Global Times in a July 16 editorial.

“The new provocations brought no benefit to them as China did not change its original stance. These countries are only humiliating themselves.”

The United States, which had firmly supported the Philippine government in calling for a unified ASEAN stand on the South China Sea disputes, also came under attack in state media for “stirring up trouble”.

“Objectively speaking, there remain many unresolved territorial disputes in Asia, and certain neighbouring countries are worried about and afraid of a rapidly rising China. US policymakers have taken advantage of this situation to rebalance their national economic and security interests toward Asia,” said People’s Daily in a July 17 editorial.

One unresolved dispute is between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands, which flared anew earlier this month after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said his government was negotiating with a “private owner” to “nationalise” part of the Islands. All this week, Chinese state media kept up reporting of the activities of Chinese fishery patrols in the area and their run-ins with Japanese vessels.

Both state media and the general public are supportive of the stronger stance adopted by Beijing.

“Yes, it’s time to speak up. So many islands on Nansha are taken by Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, we are now fighting back,” said a microblogger. In fact, some are suggesting that the stance can be even harder. “Our government is just too weak; we need some real action now. Philippines and Vietnam? They are small countries; we should just fight for our land,” said another microblogger.