South China Sea: Defence experts warn Australia will face pressure to join US on mission to probe China's artificial islands

Updated

Defence experts believe Australia will face growing pressure to join United States-led maritime patrols as tensions rise in the South China Sea.

The US has sent a guided missile destroyer to challenge a 12-nautical-mile territorial limit China has asserted around its man-made islands in the contested waterway.

The move has been tipped to anger the Chinese government, which stated recently that it would never allow any country to violate its territory in the Spratly archipelago.

Key points Defence experts believe Australia will join the US in its patrols of the South China Sea

US guided missile patrols the start of a series of efforts to challenge China's territorial claims

President Barack Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping to meet at Asia-Pacific summits in November





The patrol comes just weeks ahead of a series of Asia-Pacific summits US president Barack Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping are expected to attend in the second half of November.

A US defence official has said the mission marks the start of a series of challenges to China's territorial claims.

Lowly Institute defence expert Euan Graham said Australia would soon be faced with pressure to join the US in its maritime patrols in the South China Sea.

"This is actually going to usher in several weeks, if not longer, of continuous US air and surface presence around the islands, in which some of the allies might eventually be requested to take part," Dr Graham told ABC News 24 on Tuesday.

Australian National University National Security College professor Leszek Busynski agreed.

"It won't go away; it will simply continue... there will be much more pressure upon Australia to get involved on the US side," he said.

Defence Minister Marise Payne has issued a warning to China that Australia will continue to cooperate with the US on maritime security.

In a written statement, Ms Payne said while Australia was not involved in the current exercise, the government strongly supported freedom of navigation, including in the South China Sea.

"Australia has a legitimate interest in the maintenance of peace and stability, respect for international law, unimpeded trade and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea," Ms Pyne said.

"Approximately 60 per cent of Australia's exports pass through the South China Sea.

"Australia will continue to cooperate with the United States and other regional partners on maritime security."

China's foreign minister Lu Kang said in a statement this week that the US ship "illegally entered" the waters near the islands "without receiving permission from the Chinese government".

China's artificial islands draws US concerns over military gains

Both Subi and Mischief reefs were submerged at high tide before China started a massive dredging project to turn the area into islands in 2014.

China has claimed most of the South China Sea— where more than $5 trillion of world trade passes through each year— in the face of rival claims from Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines and Taiwan.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12-nautical mile limits cannot be set around man-made islands built on previously submerged reefs.

Pentagon officials said the United States regularly conducted freedom-of-navigation operations around the world to challenge excessive maritime claims.

Washington is worried China has built the outposts with the aim of extending its military reach to the South China Sea.

China said the islands would have mainly civilian uses as well as "undefined defence purposes".

Aerial photographs show the construction of three airstrips in the Spratlys, including one each on Subi and Mischief Reefs.

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Vietnam, China, Malaysia have eyes on the prize

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Rich in resources and traversed by a quarter of global shipping, the South China Sea is the stage for several territorial disputes that threaten to escalate tensions in the region.

At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups - the Spratly Islands, off the coast of the Philippines, and the Paracel Islands, off the coasts of Vietnam and China.

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Both chains are essentially uninhabitable, but are claimed by no fewer than seven countries, eager to gain control of the vast oil and gas fields below them, as well as some of the region's best fishing grounds.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have made claims to part of the Spratlys based on the internationally recognised Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles from a country's coastline.

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Based on the EEZ, the Philippines has the strongest claim on the Spratlys and their resources, with its EEZ covering much of the area.

However the lure of resources, and prospect of exerting greater control over shipping in the region, means that greater powers are contesting the Philippines' claims.

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China has made extensive sovereignty claims on both the Spratlys and the Paracels to the north, based largely on historic claims outlined in a map from the middle part of the 20th Century known as the 'Nine Dash Map'.

Taiwan also makes claims based on the same map, as it was created by the nationalist Kuomintang government, which fled to Taiwan after the communists seized power in China.

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Vietnam also claims the Spratlys and the Paracels as sovereign territory, extending Vietnam's EEZ across much of the region and bringing it into direct conflict with China.

There have been deadly protests in Vietnam over China's decision to build an oil rig off the Paracels.

One Chinese worker in Vietnam was killed and a dozen injured in riots targeting Chinese and Taiwanese owned factories, prompting 3,000 Chinese nationals to flee the country.

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EEZ can only be imposed based on boundaries of inhabitable land, and this has prompted all the countries making claims on the region to station personnel, and in some cases build military bases out of the water, to bolster their claim.

Building and protecting these structures has resulted in a series of stand-offs between countries in the region, each with the potential to escalate.

China has been leading the charge with these installations, and has deployed vessels to the region to protect their interests.

Chinese coast guard vessels have used a water cannon on Vietnamese vessels, as well as blockading an island where the Philippines has deployed military personnel.

Rich in resources and traversed by a quarter of global shipping, the South China Sea is the stage for several territorial disputes that threaten to escalate tensions in the region.At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups - the Spratly Islands, off the coast of the Philippines, and the Paracel Islands, off the coasts of Vietnam and China.Both chains are essentially uninhabitable, but are claimed by no fewer than seven countries, eager to gain control of the vast oil and gas fields below them, as well as some of the region's best fishing grounds.Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have made claims to part of the Spratlys based on the internationally recognised Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles from a country's coastline.Based on the EEZ, the Philippines has the strongest claim on the Spratlys and their resources, with its EEZ covering much of the area.However the lure of resources, and prospect of exerting greater control over shipping in the region, means that greater powers are contesting the Philippines' claims.China has made extensive sovereignty claims on both the Spratlys and the Paracels to the north, based largely on historic claims outlined in a map from the middle part of the 20th Century known as the 'Nine Dash Map'.Taiwan also makes claims based on the same map, as it was created by the nationalist Kuomintang government, which fled to Taiwan after the communists seized power in China.Vietnam also claims the Spratlys and the Paracels as sovereign territory, extending Vietnam's EEZ across much of the region and bringing it into direct conflict with China.There have been deadly protests in Vietnam over China's decision to build an oil rig off the Paracels.One Chinese worker in Vietnam was killed and a dozen injured in riots targeting Chinese and Taiwanese owned factories, prompting 3,000 Chinese nationals to flee the country.EEZ can only be imposed based on boundaries of inhabitable land, and this has prompted all the countries making claims on the region to station personnel, and in some cases build military bases out of the water, to bolster their claim.Building and protecting these structures has resulted in a series of stand-offs between countries in the region, each with the potential to escalate.China has been leading the charge with these installations, and has deployed vessels to the region to protect their interests.Chinese coast guard vessels have used a water cannon on Vietnamese vessels, as well as blockading an island where the Philippines has deployed military personnel.

Topics: territorial-disputes, world-politics, navy, defence-forces, defence-and-national-security, asia, australia, china, united-states

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