This semester we will be focusing on two territorial disputes with China. The first, involving the Spratly and Paracel Islands, is with Vietnam while the second is a dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. Other countries, which include the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan (Republic of China), and Brunei also claim these islands, however Vietnam and Japan have the greatest claims over the above island chains.
First, the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China, which include eight uninhabited islands are “important shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and lie near potential oil and gas reserves[,]… strategically significant position, amid rising competition between the US and China for military primacy…”
(BBC Asia). After World War II, Japan renounced claims to many territories, after losing so much during the war. China raised no objections to the renouncing and returning of these territories, until the 1970’s, when the issue of oil, fishing, and various mineral resources emerged in the area. The Senkaku and Diaoyu Islands has encouraged China to bolster their argument of ownership over a large swath of the East China Sea. In September 2012, the Japanese government bought three islands from private owners to prevent them from falling into “Ultranationalist hands”. Beijing responded with anger by “sending its air and naval vessels into the area claimed by Tokyo, often coming within firing range of the Japanese planes and ships sent to intercept them.” Having said this, tension has been rapidly increasing in the East of China among territories between Japan.
Shinzo Abe, The Japanese Prime Minister, compared the current situation between Japan and China to that of Germany and the U.K. prior to the First World War. Let’s hope that the leaders of both nations communicate in order to avoid and calm the rough seas while we approach the next territorial dispute between China and Vietnam.
Similarly, China has provoked conflicts with Vietnam regarding the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which are South of China’s sea. Although issues date 40 years back, during the Vietnam War, problems have once again arisen due to the fishing rules and naval clashes at the Paracel Islands. On January 19, 1974, when the Southern Vietnamese navy (backed by the United States) had a naval clash with the Chinese forces, who also supported to North Vietnamese, Chinese military units seized islands in the Paracels occupied by South Vietnamese armed forces, and Beijing claimed sovereignty over the Spratlys. By then, Vietnam still owned some parts of the Paracel and Spratly Islands, but did not approach the issue until both North and South Vietnam were unified. Until recently, China imposed fishing rules that "require foreign fishing ships to obtain approval to enter waters it has placed…including those surrounding the Paracels.", with reports of China harassing Vietnamese fishermen. Since then, the Vietnamese media has raised reports on China's new fishing regulations, in which Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, has deemed to be "illegal and invalid." Hoang Sa, the name of the Paracel Islands in Vietnamese, deeply sparks nationalism as the country boycotts China and their goods, but also hostility towards the Chinese community living in Vietnam, no longer considering the separation between the Northern and Southern Vietnamese.
27 November 2013 Q&A: China-Japan islands row. BBC World Asia. Retrieved
From www.bbc.co.uk
David E. Sanger (December 1 2013) In the East China Sea, a Far Bigger Test of
Power Looms. The New York Times. Retrieved From www.nytimes.com
bigger-test-of-power-looms.html
James Holmes (January 5, 2014) Asia’s Worst Nightmare: A China-Japan War. The
National Interest. Retrieved From www.nationalinterest.org
war-9662
Ankit Panda (January 23, 2014) Shinzo Abe At World Economic Forum: 'Restrain
Military Expansion In Asia'. The Diplomat. Retrieved From www.thediplomat.org
restrain-military-expansion-in-asia/
Nga Pham (January 14, 2014). Shift as Vietnam Marks South China Sea Battle. BBC World Asia. Retrieved from
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