By Takashi Kawamoto and Yizhe Daniel Xie
Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief could offer innovative approach to territorial conflict.
China’s extensive land reclamation in the South China Sea poses a challenge to the security environment of the Asia-Pacific. Territorial conflicts are difficult to resolve given complex and deeply rooted sovereignty and historical interpretation issues. However, the essence of the issue is not the Chinese land reclamation itself (many other countries in the region have engaged in land reclamation), but rather the legal and political consequences that could escalate into a security issue, which in turn could destabilize a region that has the potential to drive the world economic growth.
No matter how much international criticism it receives, or how much organized opposition it faces in Southeast Asia, China is likely to continue to expand its physical presence in the region. Given the change in the strategic environment exemplified by the economic development of ASEAN nations, China’s growing clout, and the ambiguity of the U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, regional stakeholders like the U.S., China, Japan, and South Korea must pursue a new and innovative approach to regional peace and stability.
A new approach would acknowledge China’s land reclamation under the condition of joint usage for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) operations by all stakeholders in the region. What to resolve is not the territorial conflict itself but the increasing mistrust of Chinese behavior, reflected in the use of coercion, intimidation, threats, or force. Allowing sovereignty claims to be debated peacefully is acceptable, but regional stability the stakeholders must discover a means to separate territory utilization from its ownership. This new perspective would involve China more deeply in regional peace and stability.
Read the full story at The Diplomat