Harsh V. Pant, YaleGlobal, Aug 02, 2012
A worrisome tussle is underway
over the South China Sea. China is preparing to auction off two sections that
are widely recognized to fall within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, 200
nautical miles offshore, even after Hanoi turned the exploration rights over to
India. The discord between China and India is not limited to maritime border
and exploration rights, argues Harsh V. Pant of King’s College, but reflects “strategic
rivalry between two rising powers in the Asian landscape.” China is boxing
India into a corner, Pant claims, forcing it to defend freedom of navigation,
international law, relationships with other East Asian states and its own
credibility as a rising power. China’s aggressive moves, reaching far into the
Indian Ocean while claiming sovereignty for the South China Sea, could be at
odds with its own long-term interests, spreading uncertainty and mistrust among
neighbors. It could only cement its reputation as a regional bully and rally
other states, reinforcing desire for a trouble-free South China Sea. –
YaleGlobal
China ignores India’s
exploration, puts Vietnam’s oil block up for global bid
LONDON: While the world focuses
on the rising tension between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea,
Beijing and Delhi are also engaged in a quiet struggle in the contested waters.
By putting up for international bidding the same oil block that India had
obtained from Vietnam for exploration, China has thrown down a gauntlet. By
deciding to stay put in the assigned block, India has indicated it’s
ready to take up the Chinese challenge. At stake is Chinese opposition to
India’s claim to be a regional power.
The conflict between India and
China over the South China Sea has been building for more than a year. India
signed an agreement with Vietnam in October 2011 to expand and promote oil
exploration in South China Sea and has now reconfirmed its decision to carry on
despite the Chinese challenge to the legality of Indian presence.
By accepting the Vietnamese
invitation to explore oil and gas in Blocks 127 and 128, India’s state-owned
oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd, or OVL, not only expressed New Delhi’s desire to
deepen its friendship with Vietnam, but ignore China’s warning to stay away.
After asking countries “outside the region” to stay away from the South China
Sea, China issued a demarche to India in November 2011, underlining that
Beijing’s permission should be sought for exploration in Blocks 127 and 128
and, without it, OVL’s activities would be considered illegal. Vietnam,
meanwhile had underlined the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to claim
its sovereign rights over the two blocks being explored. India decided to go by the
Vietnam’s claims and ignore China’s objections.
China has been objecting to the
Indian exploration projects in the region, claiming that the territory comes
under its sovereignty. Whereas India continues to maintain that its exploration
projects in the region are purely commercial, China has viewed such activities
as an issue of sovereign rights.
India’s moves unsettled China,
which views India’s growing engagement in East Asia with suspicion. India’s
decision to explore hydrocarbons with Vietnam followed a July 2011 incident
during which an unidentified Chinese warship demanded that a INS Airavat, an
amphibious assault vessel, identify itself and explain its presence in the
South China Sea after leaving Vietnamese waters. Completing a scheduled port
call in Vietnam, the Indian warship was in international waters.
After an initial show of
defiance, India showed second thoughts. In May, India’s junior oil minister
R.P.N. Singh told the Parliament that OVL had decided to return Block 128 to
Vietnam as exploration there wasn’t commercially viable. Hanoi publicly
suggested that New Delhi’s decision was a response to pressure from China. In
July 2012, after Vietnam gave OVL more incentives in terms of a longer period
to prove commercial viability, India decided to continue the joint exploration.
Vietnam decided to extend the OVL contract for hydrocarbon exploration in block
128, reiterating that it valued India’s presence in the South China Sea for
regional strategic balance.
In June 2012, state-owned China
National Offshore Oil Company, or CNOOC, opened nine blocks for exploration in
waters also claimed by Vietnam. Oil block 128, which Vietnam argues is inside
its 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone granted under the UN Law of the
Sea, is part of the nine blocks offered for global bidding by CNOOC.
By putting up for global bidding
a Vietnamese petroleum block under exploration by an Indian oil company, China
has forced India into a corner. That India would not be cowed by Chinese
maneuvers came during the July ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh. There, India
made a strong case for supporting not only freedom of navigation but also
access to resources in accordance with principles of international law. New
Delhi, which so often likes to sit on margins and avoid taking sides, must
assume it can no longer afford the luxury of inaction if it wants to preserve
credibility as a significant actor in both East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Like other major powers, India is
concerned about China’s challenge to the free access to the waters of the South
China Sea. The South China Sea passage is too vital for trade and international
security to be controlled by a single country.
Meanwhile, China has been doing
its best to roil the waters in the South China Sea. Concerns have been rising
about China’s claim to the ownership to much of the South China Sea waters and
the Chinese Navy’s assertive behavior in the region. China has decided to
establish a military garrison on Woody Island in the Paracels in a latest
attempt to assert claims over the region. China’s Defence Ministry has openly
warned that “combat ready” Chinese naval and air patrols are ready to “protect
our maritime rights and interests” in the South China Sea.
In a bold display of power and
with the help of its friend Cambodia, China prevented ASEAN from even issuing a
joint statement for the first time in the organization’s 45-year history. China
succeeded in playing divide-and-rule politics, thereby ensuring that the
dispute remains a bilateral matter between Beijing and individual rival
claimants.
When China suggests that it would
like to extend its territorial waters – which usually extend 12 nautical miles
from shore – to include the entire exclusive economic zone, extending 200
nautical miles, it is challenging the fundamental principle of free navigation.
All maritime powers, including India, have a national interest in freedom of
navigation, open access to Asia’s maritime commons and respect for
international law in the South China Sea. China has collided with Japan, South
Korea, Vietnam and Philippines in recent months over issues related to the
exploitation of East China Sea and South China Sea for mineral resources and
oil.
India’s interest in access to
Vietnam’s energy resources puts it in direct conflict with China’s claims over
the territory. In an ultimate analysis, this issue is not merely about commerce
and energy. It is about strategic rivalry between two rising powers in the
Asian landscape. If China can expand its presence in the Indian Ocean region,
as New Delhi anticipates, India can also do the same in South China Sea waters.
As China’s power grows, it will test India’s resolve for maintaining a
substantive presence in the South China Sea.
India has so far been a passive
observer amidst growing maritime tensions and territorial claims in the region.
But now after expanding its footprints in the South China Sea, New Delhi must
come to terms with China’s regional prowess. The challenge for New Delhi is to
match strategic ambition realistically with appropriate resources and
capabilities.
Harsh V. Pant teaches in King’s
College, London.
Courtesy: Yale Global Online
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