By Martin Petty
Jan 25 (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier group led by the
USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea over the
weekend to promote "freedom of the seas" at a time of U.S.
concern about China-Taiwan tensions and Beijing asserting its
maritime agenda.
Taiwan, meanwhile, reported an incursion of Chinese bombers
and fighter jets into its air defence identification zone.
The patrol comes just days after Joe Biden was sworn in as
U.S. president and follows a year of repeated demonstrations of
military power by both Beijing and Washington.
REGIONAL TENSIONS
China has complained about U.S. vessels in the South China
Sea close to islands it controls, claims, or constructed and
turned into military installations.
The Trump and Obama administrations carried out such patrols
regularly, ostensibly to challenge China's "nine-dash line"
claim to jurisdiction over almost the entire South China Sea,
which an international arbitral tribunal ruled has no legal
basis.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Saturday's patrol was to
"ensure freedom of the seas, (and) build partnerships that
foster maritime security" suggesting Biden, as with the "pivot"
strategy of the Obama administration he served as vice
president, will pursue deeper engagement and alliance-building
in Southeast Asia, to try to prevent China establishing regional
hegemony.
TROUBLED WATERS
Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei, as well as
Taiwan, have territorial claims in the waterway and largely
welcome the U.S. presence, mainly as a check on China's
militarisation and its vast coastguard and fishing fleet.
Southeast Asian countries last year expressed worry that the
escalating U.S.-China tensions could lead to military
confrontation, with potential for big disruptions to a vital
trade route, which would have devastating consequences for their
economies.
The United States has accused China of bullying and
attempting to build a "maritime empire", announcing several
rounds of sanctions on Chinese state companies involved in
building artificial islands. China sees the United States as an outsider interfering in a
region in which it sees itself as a force for peace and
stability.
"It's business as usual for strategic competition," said
Renato de Castro, a defence expert at Manila's De La Salle
University, adding the U.S. patrol was "both reassuring and
concerning".
"The Biden administration cannot show weakness in foreign
policy," he added.
VIRUS DISTRACTION
Tensions have risen as a result of what the United States
saw as underhanded tactics by China to advance its territorial
claims while its neighbours were fighting coronavirus epidemics.
Vietnam and the Philippines have protested China's
establishment of administrative districts in the disputed
Paracel islands and in the Spratly islands. Protests also
followed China's military drills near the Paracels, including
the firing of ballistic missiles from several locations into
waters nearby.
Chinese coastguard and survey vessels were repeatedly
tracked in 2020 near energy exploration in offshore plots
operated by Malaysia and Vietnam, disrupting activities and
leading to weeks-long standoffs.
TROUBLE AHEAD?
Though not directly linked, the U.S. patrol came a day after
China passed a law allowing its coastguard to open fire on
foreign vessels. That could increase the risk of conflict given
the competing territorial claims and the vast distances
travelled by China's coastguard fleet.
The bill, which China says is in line with international
practices, also allows coastguard personnel to demolish other
countries' structures on reefs it claims, and to board and
inspect foreign vessels in China-claimed waters.
"The law heightens the risk of inducing unintended incidents
at sea," said Ha Hoang Hop, a fellow at Singapore's ISEAS–Yusof
Ishak Institute, adding it could also be considered a warning to
Washington.
Several analysts expect the United States to continue the
patrols and firm up relations with littoral states, and for
China to increase military exercises and disrupt any efforts to
resume energy activities in waters it considers its own.