Vol. 79/No. 18 May 18, 2015
Newly released satellite images show major Chinese land reclamation on eight reefs in the Spratly Islands. At Fiery Cross Reef a roughly 10,000-foot airstrip is almost finished and a harbor well underway, big enough to accommodate most combat and support aircraft and the largest military vessels in China’s armed forces.
Washington is fighting to maintain its domination of the Pacific, conquered with U.S. imperialism’s bloody triumph in World War II. The U.S. Navy’s supremacy over the South China Sea — with its vital trade routes, potential energy reserves and proximity to allies and rivals — was among Washington’s most cherished spoils of the war.
The rapid development of capitalist industry and trade in China over the last 30 years drives the rulers to seek a political and military role in the region commensurate with their economic strength.
To counter China’s challenge, President Barack Obama announced a “pivot” to the east in 2011, increasing Washington’s military presence in the region. The U.S. government is deepening its cooperation with Beijing’s rivals, especially calling on Tokyo to take on a greater role.
At an April 16 seminar in Washington, China’s ambassador to the U.S., Cui Tiankai, said it was “natural” that the reclamation work would include military installations and that there “should be no illusion that anyone could impose on China a unilateral status quo.”
Trade worth $5 trillion passes through the South China Sea every year. The existence of natural gas deposits in coastal areas have led to predictions of major energy reserves there. Beijing’s claim to 80 percent of the sea, including more than 40 islands, is contested by the governments of Vietnam, the Philippines and other neighboring states.
In May last year China placed an oil rig for test drilling between the Paracel Islands and Vietnam. During more than two months of drilling there were numerous incidents involving the Vietnamese Coast Guard, Chinese military ships and fishing boats from Vietnam.
In 2012 there was a tense five-day military standoff between Chinese and Philippine maritime forces at the Scarborough Shoal.
While still lagging far behind U.S. naval and air power, China has made substantial military advances, developed a new generation of stealth jet fighters, an aircraft carrier and the world’s first land-based anti-ship ballistic missile.
Washington seeks new alliances
Washington is working to put together military, political and trade alliances to counter Beijing’s growing influence. By 2020 the U.S. plans to have 60 percent of its warships located in the Pacific.“I think allies, partners and friends in the region will look to the Japanese more and more as a stabilizing function,” Adm. Robert Thomas, the top U.S. naval officer in Asia, told Reuters Jan. 29. “In the South China Sea, frankly, the Chinese fishing fleet, the Chinese coast guard and the [navy] overmatch their neighbor,” he said. “I think that JDSF [Japanese Maritime Defense Forces] operations make sense in the future.”
Before World War II Japan was the dominant imperialist power in East Asia, with a brutal colonial history that has not been forgotten in Korea, China and elsewhere.
During a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Washington, U.S. and Japanese officials announced new guidelines for greater military cooperation April 27. The agreement reaffirms that the Senkaku Islands, controlled by Tokyo but also claimed by China and Taiwan, are covered by the treaty.
In late 2013 Beijing declared an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea, which so far has been ignored by Washington and Tokyo.
Japan’s military spending ranks sixth in the world, second in Asia after China. Abe has said that his “life’s work” is to revise the Japanese constitution to remove the restrictions on Tokyo’s use of military power imposed as a consequence of its defeat in World War II. In April 2014 the government lifted a nearly four-decade ban on weapons exports.
Over the last few months Washington has expanded military collaboration with the Philippines and initiated cooperation with Vietnam. Both Asian countries have also established closer military relations with Tokyo.
Washington and Manila announced a 10-year pact April 26 that Evan Medeiros, the National Security Council’s senior director for Asian affairs, said was “the most significant defense agreement that we have concluded with the Philippines in decades.”
Beijing is “using its sheer size and muscle to force countries into subordinate positions,” Obama said April 9. “Just because the Philippines and Vietnam are not as large as China doesn’t mean that they can just be elbowed aside.”
“The U.S. leader talked about China’s ‘sheer size and muscle,’ but one can see clearly who has the biggest size and muscle in the world,” responded Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson. She said China has “indisputable rights” to the Spratlys and was “protecting its nation’s sovereignty.”
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