International Crisis Group

Does Promoting “Core Interests” Do China More Harm Than Good? | China File

By Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, North East Asia Project Director

It is not by accident that China has consistently informed U.S. officials that the South and East China Sea are part of its core interests. “Core interests” has become a key concept that it has consistently pushed in its relations with Washington. Beijing was emboldened in this effort when the U.S. agreed to the term’s inclusion in the November 2009 US-China Joint Statement (“the two sides agreed that respecting each other’s core interests is extremely important to ensure steady progress in China-U.S. relations”). Since then, the Chinese have regularly invoked the term, more recently along with its corollary, the “new type of great power relations” (see below). Beijing was only too happy to see the previous U.S. guiding principle for the relationship, “responsible stakeholder,” replaced by its own phrase. Despite Beijing’s initial mistrust for the concept—as it sees such external calls to contribute to the global public good as an attempt to slow its rise – it ended up accepting it.  It was the U.S. that jettisoned it with the change of administration.

FULL ARTICLE (China File)

Photo: joshDubya/Flickr

China agencies press territorial claims in Asian waters | LA Times

By Barbara Demick

American concerns about Beijing’s growing maritime reach invariably focus on China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a rebuilt Soviet vessel that went into operation last year. Or on the projected 10.7% increase in the defense budget for 2013, the latest in a decade of double-digit hikes. Little is said about the nonmilitary agencies that are operating under the radar.

“It is a brilliant strategy by China to establish their control over an area without firing a single shot,” said Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, head of the Beijing office of the International Crisis Group, a think tank that works on conflict resolution.

FULL ARTICLE (LA Times)

Photo: Kai Yan, Joseph Wong/Flickr

Analysis: As China’s clout grows, sea policy proves unfathomable | Reuters

By John Ruwitch

Imagine if the U.S. state of Hawaii passed a law allowing harbor police to board and seize foreign boats operating up to 1,000 km (600 miles) from Honolulu.

That, in effect, is what happened in China about a week ago. The tropical province of Hainan, home to beachfront resorts and one of China’s largest naval bases, authorized a unit of the police to interdict foreign vessels operating “illegally” in the island’s waters, which, according to China, include much of the heavily disputed South China Sea.

FULL ARTICLE (Reuters)

Photo: Kai Yan, Joseph Wong/Flickr

‘Sea grab’ sparks tensions in South China Sea  |  Stars and Stripes

By Wyatt Olson

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Many people look at China and see a unified behemoth tightly controlled by the communist central leadership, so when a diplomatic fray develops, like a rash of recent confrontations in the South China Sea, the assumption is that it’s all part of a grand plan by Beijing.

But some analysts see the bureaucracy as more akin to a giant octopus, with the teeming tentacles of ministries and provinces setting their own agendas as they compete for clout and profits — as long as they maintain loyalty to the Communist Party. The philosophy, particularly among southern provinces, is the ancient adage, “Heaven is high and the emperor far away.”

FULL ARTICLE (Stars and Stripes)

Photo: Official U.S. Navy Imagery/Flickr

Analysis - China unveils oil offensive in South China Sea squabble  |  Swissinfo.ch

By Randy Fabi and Chen Aizhu / REUTERS

SINGAPORE/BEIJING - First came the diplomatic offensive, then the flexing of military muscle.

Now, China is opening a third front to assert its claims in the South China Sea - moving ahead with its first major tender of oil and gas blocks in disputed parts of its waters.

FULL ARTICLE (Swissinfo.ch)

Photo: U.S. Navy Photo/Flickr

Analysis - ASEAN path to economic union muddied by South China Sea  |  Swissinfo.ch

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Discord in Southeast Asia over how to deal with Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea comes as the region struggles to overcome competing national interests and form a European Union-style economic community by 2015.

FULL ARTICLE (Swissinfo.ch)

Photo: Gunawan Kartapranata/Wikimedia Commons

High Stakes in the South China Sea  |  The Diplomat

by Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt

Coverage of the South China Sea territorial dispute has tended to paint the story as that of a giant China flexing its muscle over a handful of smaller Southeast Asian states. But while China’s increasingly assertive behavior shows its willingness to exploit the weaknesses of other claimants, the picture is not as simple as is it is often portrayed. Vietnam and the Philippines are pushing back against China, and many countries are stoking tensions in the sea. Together, their actions leave plenty of room for open conflict to break out.

FULL ARTICLE (The Diplomat)

Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Mercil/Wikimedia Commons

China takes the gloves off | CNN GPS

By Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt

As tensions rise in the South China Sea, the gloves are coming off in Beijing. When it comes to exploiting the weaknesses of its rivals in Southeast Asia – smaller nations also laying claim to the South China Sea – China doesn’t pull any punches.

Until recently, it followed a line of “reactive assertiveness” – responding forcefully to perceived provocations in this disputed body of water. Now, there are signs that China has shed the “reactive” part of its approach.

FULL ARTICLE (CNN GPS)

Photo: Daderot/ Flickr

ICG Warns of Regional War | Bangkok Post

Tensions over competing claims in the South China Sea could escalate into conflict, with an arms build-up among rival nations raising the temperature, an international think tank warned Tuesday.

Prospects of solving the disputes “seem to be diminishing” after a recent failure by the 10-nation ASEAN grouping to hammer out a “code of conduct” that would govern actions in the sea, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

FULL ARTICLE (Bangkok Times)

Photo: Gunawan Kartapranata/ Wikimedia Commons