U.S. Frustration over South China Sea

Frustrated with China’s unilateral advance in South China Sea, United States Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, stressed U.S. standpoint against threat of China. In the security meeting in Singapore called Shangri-La Dialogue, Mattis criticized China’s landfill and settling military facilities on the islands in South China Sea as undermining interest of international society and destroy rule-based order. As tension between U.S. and China in the region gets high, Japan raises its concern of being involved in it.

Focusing on consecutive intimidation from Korean Peninsula with launches of ballistic missiles or possible nuclear test, there has been less attention to the situation in South China Sea. Pro-China policy of Philippine led by President Rodrigo Duterte also enforced it. However, Mattis did not conceal U.S. strong concern on military advance of China in Southeast Asia. According to a research by Center for Strategic and International Studies, China has mostly finished construction of artificial islands in Spratly Islands, enabling deployment of fighter jets or mobile missile launcher.

Mattis warned the nations in the region not to be too concerned with threat of North Korea to keep on taking close look at other strategic challenges against peace and prosperity in the region. “The scope and effect of China’s construction activities in the South China Sea differ from those in other countries in several key ways. This includes the nature of its militarization, China’s disregard for international law, its contempt for other nation’s interests, and its efforts to dismiss non-adversarial resolution of issues,” told Mattis.

For China, it was unexpected attack from U.S., as long as U.S. supposedly needed cooperation on the issue of North Korea. “It would not be included in freedom of navigation for a nation to take action of military reconnaissance over the islands and their connected sea or air zone with military aircrafts or vessels,” told the head of Chinese delegates and Vice-President of Academy of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, He Lei.

Not wasting time in accusing China, U.S. made deliberate effort to build closer ties with its allies in the region. In a backdrop of Shangri La Dialogue, Mattis had a trilateral meeting with Japanese Minister of Defense, Tomomi Inada, and South Korean Minister of Defense, Han Min-goo, in Singapore. They released a joint statement, which insisted on freedom of navigation and aviation to be guaranteed. Three defense leaders reconfirmed further efforts for information sharing, joint exercise or mutual operability.

In a bilateral discussion with Mattis, Inada reconfirmed U.S. standpoint that Senkaku Islands would be included in the category of Article 5 of Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which obligated U.S. to protect Japanese territory. But, Japanese Self-defense Force is inevitable integrated in U.S. military strategy in the region, as a compensation for the empty promise over Senkaku Islands.