Neutrality In China

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First, there is the issue of U.S. neutrality in the disputes. Several other countries have also carried out island building activities akin to China, albeit on a smaller scale, on the disputed islands. Some of these countries have also asserted their claims by prohibiting innocent passage of foreign warships in what they deem to be their territorial waters and the conduct of military exercises in their respective Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) without their consent. Yet, the U.S. has not publicly ‘called them out’, as it has China. Such double standards render the U.S. rationale for military intervention on the basis of freedom of navigation to be weak and would undoubtedly be rejected and dismissed by China as unfair treatment. Second, the …show more content…

China routinely intercepts U.S. reconnaissance flights in its EEZ; any overflight over its reclaimed islands can be expected to be met in similar aggressive ways that increase the risk of an accident akin to the U.S. EP-3 incident in Apr 2001. With U.S. naval vessels operating within 12 nautical miles of China’s reclaimed islands, a comparable maritime incident could be triggered by harassment, such as the USNS Impeccable incident in Mar 2009. While some may argue that there are procedures now to guide naval vessels’ interactions, these are non-binding and it is hard to predict how ship or ground commanders would act during heightened …show more content…

military intervention could in the worst case lead to direct military confrontation with China. The U.S. ‘Rebalance to Asia’ has seen an increase in U.S. economic presence and military footprint in the region, and China has already viewed this as an attempt to counter its growing power. Deploying U.S. military forces to the SCS, especially to within 12 nautical miles of the reclaimed islands would add ‘fuel to the fire’, and confirm Chinese suspicions that the U.S. seeks to contain its rise. Such a perception would unleash Chinese nationalism and assertiveness amongst the Chinese public. This could invariably push China into making irrational decisions for direct confrontation. Such an outcome will be a lose-lose situation for both parties as well as the

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