China presses claims in the South China Sea
During her stop in Vietnam, Secretary Clinton offered to mediate competing territorial claims in the South China Sea:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation, or Aseans, in Vietnam, said, â??The United States has a national interest in freedom of navigation, open access to Asiaâ??s maritime commons, and respect for international law in the South China Sea.â?The United States, she said, was prepared to facilitate multilateral negotiations to settle competing claims over the islands â?? something sought by Vietnam, which has had deadly clashes with China over them. In 1988, warships from China and Vietnam traded fire in the Spratly Islands, sinking several Vietnamese boats and killing dozens of sailors.
China maritime ambitions have expanded along with its military and economic muscle. It has long laid claim to islands in the South China Sea because they are rich in oil and natural gas deposits. And it has put American officials on notice that it will not brook foreign interference in the waters off its southeastern coast, which it views as a â??core interestâ? of sovereignty.
As Ishaan Tharoor notes, China's rise is sparking a low key regional arms race:
In the past year, regional powers such as India, Vietnam, Australia and even countries with U.S. bases such as Japan and South Korea have all taken significant measures to upgrade their navies; an Asia-Pacific arms race is on the cards. While the U.S. remains the pre-eminent force in the Pacific, Chinese officials are able to plan half a century down the line. "If it was up to the Navy, I don't think the U.S. would see any sense in conceding its hegemony in the future," says Roy of the East-West Center. "That would be the result only of a political decision." But, with American politics hobbled by recession, unemployment and wars in West Asia, it's no surprise that governments elsewhere may not be counting entirely on Washington's supremacy.
Incidentally, this is a pretty good resource delineating the competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.
