{"id":26212,"date":"2016-04-27T14:30:55","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T04:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=26212"},"modified":"2016-04-27T13:09:17","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T03:09:17","slug":"playing-by-the-rules-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/playing-by-the-rules-in-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing by the rules in Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"China\u2019s adventurism in the South China Sea has prompted a change in Australian policymaking that merits wide international attention. In making maintenance of a \u201crules-based global order\u201d a core strategic priority, Australia\u2019s new<\/span> Defence White Paper<\/span><\/a> adopts language not often found at the heart of national defense charters. It is all the more surprising coming from a conservative government that is usually keen to follow the United States down any path it takes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Australia wanted a readily defensible basis for contesting China\u2019s claims that could not be portrayed as just another reflexive embrace of the American position. For a country trying\u2014as are others in the region\u2014to avoid zero-sum choices between our strategic partner, the US, and our economic partner, China, the White Paper\u2019s words were astutely chosen and deserve emulation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of the attraction of a \u201crules-based global order\u201d is that it would constrain <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> relevant players. US policymakers, unlike those in most of the rest of the world, don\u2019t find the concept inherently attractive. Although they\u2014like everyone else\u2014do pay lip service to it, willingness to be bound by international rules is not part of US officials\u2019 DNA.<\/span><\/p>\n

The invasion of Iraq in 2003 remains Exhibit A. But there are others, including the overreach (alongside the United Kingdom and France) of the UN Security Council\u2019s mandate in<\/span> Libya<\/span><\/a> in 2011, and what Jessica Mathews has<\/span> described<\/span><\/a> as the \u2018wasteland for multilateral commitments\u2019 in the US approach to binding treaties, including the Convention on Biodiversity, the<\/span> Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty<\/span><\/a>, the<\/span> Protocol on Torture<\/span><\/a>, and, most relevant to the South China Sea, the UN<\/span> Convention on the Law of the Sea<\/span><\/a> (UNCLOS).<\/span><\/p>\n

The more immediate sting in the Australian White Paper is for China. Whatever else is going on in the South China Sea, it is not respect for a rules-based global order. Playing by the rules would imply a number of changes to Chinese behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, it would mean clearly articulating specific sovereignty claims, based on long use or occupancy of particular habitable islands, in the Paracel or Spratly groups or elsewhere. When those claims overlap with claims by other states, as most of them do, China must be prepared to resolve them, preferably by international adjudication or arbitration, which it has so far strongly resisted, or at the very least by genuine give-and-take negotiation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, China would have to abandon its \u201cnine-dash line\u201d as a basis not only for sovereignty claims relating to land features bounded by it, but also for claims to ill-defined \u201chistorical waters\u201d or \u201ctraditional Chinese fishing grounds.\u201d With Chinese fishing vessels constantly intruding into what have hitherto been others\u2019 undisputed 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZs) under UNCLOS, these claims are now causing real friction with countries like Indonesia.<\/span><\/p>\n

UNCLOS\u2014now generally accepted as customary international law even by countries that have not joined it, like the US\u2014is the only acceptable framework for resolving these issues. Even if every one of China\u2019s current sovereignty claims to particular habitable islands were to be accepted, the 12 nautical miles of territorial waters, and the 200 nautical miles of EEZ associated with each of them, would not begin to add up to the 80% of the South China Sea now encompassed by China\u2019s nine-dash line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Third, China would need to limit severely its actions relating to reefs and shoals, never previously habitable, where it has been reclaiming land and building airstrips and other installations capable of military use, and seeking to deny others\u2019 the use of adjacent waters and airspace. International law tolerates some such building\u2014as the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia have been doing for years, though on a much smaller scale. But it does not tolerate any military use, or support more than a 500-meter \u201csafety zone\u201d around such installations\u2014not a territorial sea, EEZ, \u201cair defence identification zone,\u201d or anything else.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fourth, China should moderate its position that no foreign ship or aircraft may engage in surveillance or intelligence collection not only within its territorial waters, about which international law is clear, but within its entire EEZ, about which China\u2019s argument is not at all strong. Adherence to this position sustains a constant risk of inflammatory incidents.<\/span><\/p>\n

So long as China refuses to play by accepted international rules, others are entitled to push back, including with the fly-by or \u201cfreedom of navigation\u201d sail-by exercises in which the US has been engaging, and which Australia and others should separately emulate. China\u2019s insistence that it has no intention to disrupt commercial shipping or flight lanes should be believed; to do otherwise would be to cut off its nose to spite its face. But its behavior is testing the limits of regional and global understanding and patience.<\/span><\/p>\n

The remaining attraction of making a \u201crules-based global order\u201d central to Australia\u2019s policy is the discipline this imposes on Australia itself\u2014as it would on any state that adopts this language. To be taken seriously, we have to put our money where our mouths are, by accepting international duties and responsibilities\u2014like helping to stop atrocity crimes in faraway places\u2014that are consistent with our claims to good international citizenship but serve no immediate traditional national security or economic interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Australia\u2019s case, this means thinking again about some of our efforts to limit our exposure to the International Court of Justice and certain dispute-resolution mechanisms under UNCLOS. In this imperfect world, there is considerable tolerance for all sorts of imperfect behavior. But hypocrisy always catches up with you. Preaching the virtues of a rule-based order to others, but being coy about some of those rules oneself, is not a good look.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s adventurism in the South China Sea has prompted a change in Australian policymaking that merits wide international attention. In making maintenance of a \u201crules-based global order\u201d a core strategic priority, Australia\u2019s new Defence White …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":26228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,1636,1650,471],"class_list":["post-26212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-china","tag-defence-white-paper-2016","tag-rules-based-order","tag-south-china-sea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPlaying by the rules in Asia | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/playing-by-the-rules-in-asia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Playing by the rules in Asia | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"China\u2019s adventurism in the South China Sea has prompted a change in Australian policymaking that merits wide international attention. 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