China risks Asean unease with patrol off M'sia
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Chinese ships patrolling an area contested by Malaysia are likely to cause more anxiety across Southeast Asia and risk the ire of a country that has long sought to downplay strategic concerns generated by China's rising power. Three Chinese ships on Sunda
On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang emphasised at a regular press conference China’s “indisputable sovereignty” of the shoal, but said it is willing to use negotiations to resolve the dispute and is committed to protecting regional peace and stability. While Malaysia’s foreign ministry did not respond to press queries, Qin said Malaysia has not lodged an official protest over Sunday’s patrol. But some experts say the move will antagonise Kuala Lumpur – an Asean member with “significant influence” – and might shift the state of play in the maritime territorial dispute.
Beijing is in an ugly territorial spat over conflicting claims to parts of the resource-rich sea with four Asean states, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. It has a separate dispute with Japan in the East China Sea, over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, around which three Chinese Coast Guard vessels sailed on Monday.
The Philippines and Vietnam have been the most vocal in expressing alarm, most recently over new Chinese laws requiring foreign fishermen to seek Beijing’s approval to operate in the disputed waters.
But Malaysia has traditionally avoided confrontations as the two states have set their dispute aside in the interest of stronger diplomatic and trading ties, noted Oh Ei Sun from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. China is Malaysia’s largest trading partner, while the latter is China’s third largest in Asia.
But bilateral ties could be strained with China’s demonstrations of its military might becoming more frequent as its naval capabilities grow. Last March, four Chinese warships carried out a landing exercise around James Shoal – the first major show of force in the area since 1987 when a powerful flotilla of Chinese warships made its presence felt there. The flexing of its naval muscles twice in the past 12 months is likely to “greatly annoy” Malaysia, said Ian Storey from Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
“If this modern form of gunboat diplomacy by China continues, Sino-Malaysian relations are likely to suffer,” he added.
“Kuala Lumpur may have to change tack and articulate its concerns to Beijing more clearly and more frequently, and even step up policy coordination with the other Asean claimants.”
