Former minister offers enlightenment on South China Sea muddle
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I had always been puzzled by China’s stand in the South China Sea, since the islands whose sovereignty it disputes are so far from the mainland. The puzzlement disappeared on Friday when I read former Singaporean foreign minister George Yeo’s clear and ba
Yeo cites Beijing’s assertion that its claims date back to the Qing Dynasty and that these were not disputed when China originally drew up maps with the controversial nine-dash line delineating the swathe of South China Sea territory it claims.
Bolstering that claim is the fact that, after the Japanese surrender in World War II, the disputed islands were handed over to the Chinese Kuomintang government. Thus, Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea are not those of a bully, as I previously believed.
Since Yeo is a former foreign minister, his statement that “China’s claims are not weak” carries weight.
With the United States’ involvement, the Southeast Asian claimant countries have greater power to negotiate with China. But if the US intervenes too much, Southeast Asia runs the risk of becoming, as Yeo says, a pawn on a chessboard.
As a citizen of Malaysia, one of the claimant countries, I fervently hope the leaders of these countries have the wisdom to gain economic benefits from both China and the US and, at the same time, preserve peace and stability in Asia.
Sim Lim Onn
Singapore
(From the Straits Times/ANN)
