Given China’s central role in the South China Sea disputes, the international community will need to learn to better understand the PRC’s diplomatic, security, and legal perspectives if there is ever to be a resolution to the South China Sea disputes that takes into account the interests of all stakeholders. For its part, Beijing’s diplomatic perspectives involve its preference for bilateral negotiations, its opposition to interference by extra-regional actors, the inseparability of the Taiwan factor from the South China Sea disputes, and the feeling that it has been unjustly forced to participate in an international game of tit-for-tat diplomatic behavior over what it essentially views as a domestic issue or, much more reluctantly, a bilateral or regional one. It is fortunate that, despite disagreement on sovereignty, legal, and procedural issues, all South China Sea claimants acknowledge that there is a dispute between them. From a security perspective, Beijing maintains that it has demonstrated a remarkable level of restraint and goodwill throughout the disputes, especially given the security challenges it is faced with. These challenges include perceived incursions into domestic territory, the U.S. rebalancing strategy, Japan’s re-militarization, and strengthening defense ties between other countries, all of which seem a bit too resemblant of a global front united for the purposes of containment. In terms of its legal perspectives, China has become the unwilling defendant in an inter-national arbitration case that threatens to damage its interests whether it participates or not. Given the circumstances, it has opted not to participate but has nevertheless taken it upon itself to clearly articulate its reasoning while the proceedings are ongoing.
Genuine attempts to understand China’s perspectives, as outlined in this chapter, as well as those of other stakeholders have significant, real world implications. As we have seen in the South China Sea dis-putes, failure to take into account the views of all stakeholders breeds antagonism and is unlikely to ease tensions or contribute to a dispute settlement that is palatable for the political leadership and citizenries of all involved. On the other hand, a recognition of the diverse pers-pectives of different stakeholders and the reasoning behind them would be an important first step towards achieving a mutually acceptable resolution to the disputes. Only time will tell whether or not the many stakeholders involved will have the capacity and moti-vation to develop such an awareness of one another’s diplomatic, security, and legal perspectives on the South China Sea disputes.
Should relevant actors take it upon themselves to do so, they would be collectively paving the way towards an eventual dispute settlement that would not seriously damage the interests of one stakeholder or another.
References
Books
Hong, Nong, 2012. UNCLOS and Ocean Dispute Settlement: Law and Politics in the South China Sea. Abingdon: Routledge.
Online Resources
2014/8/10. “China Supports ‘Dual-Track’ Approach to Resolve Dis-pute,” ChinaDaily, <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/chin-a/2014-08/10/content_18280181.htm>.
Acharya, Amitav, 1997. “Ideas, identity, and institution-building:
From the ‘ASEAN way’ to the ‘Asia-Pacific way’?” The Pacific Review, Vol. 10, Issue 3, pp. 319-346, Taylor & Francis Online,
<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09512749708719 226?redirect=1>.
Cancian, Mark F., John Schaus, & Zack Cooper, 2016. Asia-Pacific Rebalance 2025: Capabilities, Presence, and Partnerships. Wash-ington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, <
http://csis.org/publication/asia-pacific-rebalance-2025>.
Cheng, Rita & Elaine Hou, 2015/12/19. “U.S. Congress members support Taiwan’s initiatives in South China Sea,” Taiwan News,
<http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?
id=2854974>.
Chong, Ja Ian, 2012/11/13. “China’s Transparency Deficit Complicates Beijing’s Regional Outreach,” Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 185, EastWestCenter, <http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bit-stream/handle/10125/24290/APB%20no.%20185.pdf>.
Deng, Yong, 2015/1/21. “China: The Post-Responsible Power,” The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 37, Issue 4, pp. 117-132, Taylor &
Francis Online, <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/
0163660X.2014.1002159? journalCode=rwaq20>.
Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, 1982/12/10.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, United Nations,
<http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/un-clos/unclos_e.pdf>.
Etzioni, Amitai, 2011/5/3. “Is China a Responsible Stakeholder?” In-ternational Affairs, Vol. 87, Issue 3, pp. 539-553, Wiley Online Library, <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.
1468-2346.2011.00989.x/full>.
Farenthold, Blake, 2016/2/3. “Supporting President Ma of Taiwan and the Proposed South China Sea Peace Initiative Road Map,”
Congressional Record, p. E102, Congress.Gov, <https://www.
congress.gov/crec/2016/02/03/CREC-2016-02-03-pt1-PgE102.
pdf>.
Foreign Ministers of ASEAN & the People’s Republic of China, 2002/11/4. “2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” paper presented at the 8thASEAN Summit.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia: ASEAN, National University of Sin-gapore, <http://cil.nus.edu.sg/rp/pdf/2002%20Declaration%20on
%20the%20Conduct%20of%20Parties%20in%20the%20South
%20China%20Sea-pdf.pdf>.
Fravel, M. Taylor, 2014. “Things Fall Apart: Maritime Disputes and China’s Regional Diplomacy,” in Jacques deLisle & Avery Gol-dstein, eds., China’s Challenges. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 204-226, SSRN, <http://ssrn.com/ab-stract=2466488>.
Fredriksen, Katharine A., 2006/8/4. “China’s Role in the World: Is China a Responsible Stakeholder?” statement presented to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, USCC,
<http://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/06_08_3_4_fredriksen_
kathy_statement.pdf>.
Heads of State/Government at the 1st ASEAN Summit, 1976/2/24.
1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, adopted
at the 1st ASEAN Summit. Bali, Indonesia: ASEAN, Centre of International Law, <http://cil.nus.edu.sg/rp/pdf/1976%20Treaty
%20of%20Amity%20and%20Cooperation%20in%20Southeast
%20Asia-pdf.pdf>.
Kaufman, Alison Adcock, 2010/3/11. “The ‘Century of Humiliation,’
Then and Now: Chinese Perceptions of the International Order,”
Pacific Focus, Vol. 25, Issue 1, pp. 1-33, Wiley Online Library,
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1976-5118.2010.
01039.x/epdf>.
Kuok, Lynn, 2015/8/24. “Taiwan and the South China Sea: More Steps in the Right Direction,” Brookings, <http://www.brookings.
edu/research/opinions/2015/08/24-taiwan-south-china-sea-kuok>.
Lubold, Gordon & Chun Han Wong, 2016/2/16. “China Positions Missiles on Disputed South China Sea Island,” Wall Street Journal, <http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-deploys-missiles-on-disputed-island-in-south-china-sea-1455684150>.
Ma, Ying-jeou, 2015/5/26. “South China Sea Peace Initiative—
shelving sovereignty disputes, jointly developing resources, and peacefully resolving disagreements,” presented at the 2015 In-ternational Law Association and American Society of InIn-ternational (ILA-ASIL) Asia-Pacific Research Forum, Republic of China Office of the President, <http://english.president.gov.tw/Default.
aspx?tabid=1124&itemid=34858&rmid=3048>.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 2014/12/7. “Position Paper of the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Matter of Jurisdiction in the South China Sea Arbitration Initiated by the Republic of the Philippines,”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China,
<http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1217147.
shtml>.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 2015/5/26. “Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying’s
Regular Press Conference on May 26, 2015,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, <http://www.fmprc.
gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/t1267054.shtml>.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 2015/6/25. “Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang Expounds on China’s Stand on South China Sea, Cyber Security and Other Issues,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, <http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/t1276895.
shtml>.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 2015/8/24. “Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying’s Remarks on the Release of the Transcript of the Oral Hearing on Jurisdiction by the South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Estab-lished at the Request of the Philippines,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, <http://www.fmprc.
gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/t1290752.shtml>.
Rathke, Jeff, 2015/5/26. “Daily Press Briefing,” U.S. Department of State, <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2015/05/242852.htm>.
Spangler, Jonathan & Olga Daksueva, 2016. “Philippines v. China Arbitration Case: Background, Legal Perspectives, and Inter-national Responses,” in Fu-Kuo Liu & Jonathan Spangler, eds., South China Sea Lawfare: Legal Perspectives and International Responses to the Philippines v. China Arbitration Case. Taipei:
South China Sea Think Tank / Taiwan Center for Security Studies, pp. 17-43, South China Sea Think Tank, <http://scstt.org/re-ports/2016/525/>.
Talmon, Stefan A. G., 2014. “The South China Sea Arbitration: Is There a Case to Answer?” in Stefan Talmon & Bing Bing Jia, eds., The South China Sea Arbitration: A Chinese Perspective.
Oxford: Hart Publishing, pp. 15-79, SSRN, <http://dx.doi.
org/10.2139/ssrn.2393025>.
U.S. Department of Defense, 2015/3/11, “U.S., China Conduct
Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue,” U.S. Department of Defense, <http://
www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/604252/us-china-conduct-asia-pacific-security-dialogue>.
U.S. Department of State, 2011/6/25, “U.S.-China Asia-Pacific Con-sultations,” Embassy of The United States, <http://beijing.
usembassy-china.org.cn/062511p.html>.
U.S. Department of State, 2011/11/18, “Joint Statement of the 3rd U.S.-ASEAN Leaders Meeting,” United States Mission to ASEAN,
<http://asean.usmission.gov/news11182011.html>.
The White House Office of the Press Secretary, 2011/11/20. “Fact Sheet: ASEAN-United States Leaders Meeting,” The White House, <https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/20/
fact-sheet-asean-united-states-leaders-meeting>.
The White House Office of the Press Secretary, 2015/9/25. “Remarks by President Obama and President Xi of the People’s Republic of China in Joint Press Conference,” The White House, <https://
www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/25/remarks-presi-dent-obama-and-president-xi-peoples-republic-china-joint>.
Zoellick, Robert B., 2006/Winter. “Whither China: From Membership to Responsibility?” The DISAM Journal, pp. 94-98, DISAM, <
https://www.disam.dsca.mil/Pubs/Indexes/Vol%2028_2/Zoellick.
pdf>.