MANILA, Philippines - A Chinese research scholar for international relations is urging his own government to abandon its gunboat diplomacy to settle the series of conflicts and disputes in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) with neighboring states.
In an opinion page published by China Daily on Friday, international relations expert Chu Hao noted that the territorial dispute in the South China Sea has been affecting China's image in the Southeast Asia since 2010.
Chu is a research scholar at the Institute of South and Southeast Asian studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing.
“The use of force against Vietnam and the Philippines would only push the two countries, and probably all ASEAN members into the arms of the West, leading to China’s decades-long diplomatic efforts in Southeast Asia coming nothing,” Chu wrote in the China’s Daily opinion page.
He added that china’s hard-won image as a responsible power in Southeast Asia has encountered a crisis of trust as a result of the prevailing territorial disputes in the region.
Chu said that countries engaged in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea fear that China's military modernization and growing nationalist sentiment may enable its government to to resolve the disputes by force or threat of force.
This, he said, has forced other claimant-countries to deliberately seek to “multilateralize” the dispute by involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United States (US).
“With the US returning to Asia and backing its allies, and Vietnam and the Philippines trying to portray their claims to China’s territory in the South China Sea as a dispute between China and ASEAN, the South China Sea has become the focus of China’s relations with countries in the region,” he said.
Chu added with foreign media riding the tide and sticking their oars into the troubled waters, China needs to properly handle the South China Sea disputes and China-Asean relations.
He also took note of the current wave of public opinion in China that believes the South China Sea situation is grim, while some extreme voices are now calling for the use of force and giving up cooperation with ASEAN.
But Chua explained that the ASEAN, as a whole, appreciates China’s strategy of peaceful development and basically approves of China’s principle of “shelving disputes and seeking joint development” in the South China Sea.
“Overall, cooperation is still the mainstream of China-ASEAN relations, and most ASEAN members have taken a relatively positive to the rise of China,” Chu wrote.
He added that he believes the US strategic shift to the Southeast East will not undermine the foundation of China-ASEAN relations but instead will help ease some ASEAN countries’ concerns and fears about China’s rise.
“The China threat promoted by some is one of the main factors restricting the benign development of China-ASEAN relations, but it cannot fundamentally reverse the overall trend of fast development of bilateral relations,” Chu said.
In fact, he added, the continual updating of the China threat theory can be seen as a sign of progress in relations between China and ASEAN nations, as each it emerges, China will fully demonstrate its diplomacy in pursuit of good-neighborly relations. China and ASEAN’s ties advance each time they resolve a thorny issue.
He said some ASEAN countries still lack the proper understanding of China’s intentions and polices and may feel uncomfortable about her rapid rise.
“This results in them vacillating between viewing China’s rise as a threat or an opportunity,” Chu said.
For this, he said China should adhere to its good-neighbor policy which he said will prove that the threat theory is groundless.
Chu also said that there is no need to overestimate the US’ capacity to get its hook in Southeast Asia. China, he said, also cannot expect Southeast Asian countries to act against Washington’s will.
“Therefore, China should continue to ignore the voices calling for the use of force to settle the disputes,” Chu wrote.
In resorting to the use of force, he said China would not achieve its desired strategic objectives, but will instead create a surrounding environment that is antagonistic.
“In that case, the South China Sea will have become a ‘trap’ on China’s path of peaceful development,” he said.
Chu said that for now, China should focus its soft power on three things in addressing the South China Sea dispute: seeking and seizing the moral high ground; increase the trust of neighboring countries so that they are confident that China’s rise is peaceful; and build up a majesty of China.
“In this way, the international community, particularly ASEAN countries, will know that China is committed to its path of peaceful development,” he said.-The Philippine Star (July 08, 2012)
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