Despite facing strong opposition from the international community, China is persisting with its intrigue to change the status quo in the East Sea.
According to international public, China’s wrongdoings are totally unjustified and unacceptable as they run counter to international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to which China is a participating party.
The US Washington Post recently ran an article, titled "Could the new map of China start a war?". The author has clearly exposed China’s conspiracy through its publication of a “10 dash-line” in an attempt to change the fact despite objection from other regional countries. The article said that this map can cause increased tensions in the region, where many countries together claim sea sovereignty.
Two years ago, a map published in new Chinese passports sparked a diplomatic firestorm with foreign ministries in Vietnam and India both voicing protests and adopting counter-measures.
“China's economic rise has led to an increasing assertiveness in the region, with its expanding navy worrying neighbors and challenging US dominance in the Pacific. It has triggered an arms race in Asia, punctuated by a growing number of dangerous incidents, including frequent maritime standoffs and altercations with Vietnamese and Philippine vessels and risky fighter jet flybys over Japanese ships.”, the article said.
The new map is an echo of this provocative worldview. But Beijing officials have sought to play it down. The goal is to serve the Chinese public.
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| China's unjustified "ten-dash line" map. |
US Ambassador Philip Goldberg in the Philippines on June 27 also voiced support for the Philippines’ protest against China for publishing a new map which blatantly encircles most of the East Sea in the scope of the so-called "sovereignty" of Beijing.
According to Goldberg, fundamental elements on the “ten-nine dash” map remain the same as the “nine-dash line” one, but it totally has no legal foundation in line with international law. The US diplomat said that China's action has violated the UNCLOS, noting that the efforts of a nation to infringe upon the rights to legally use waters of another country should be considered a matter of concern.
He also underlined the need to resolve disputes through international courts, comply with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), conduct negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) and negotiate directly with concerned parties without threat.
Senior ASEAN officials at their meeting in Hanoi on June 27 expressed deep concern about recent escalated tensions in the East Sea.
Aung Lynn, Head of SOM Myanmar said ASEAN is closely following the situation and expressed deep concern about the recent developments in the East Sea.
ASEAN has a clear view about the East Sea based on the ASEAN Foreign Ministers statement on the grouping’s six-point principles, he added, while emphasizing the regional grouping’s central role in dealing with challenges in the region.
