China Shores up Territorial Claims
December 21, 2012
China has long had territorial maritime disputes with its Asian neighbors, but over the past year tensions over its claims in the East and South China Sea have seen a dramatic uptick. Beijing is using everything from establishing a new city in the South China Sea to weather reports to take a more assertive stance.
As a rising maritime power, China is using a wide range of measures to shore up its territorial claims.
In July, Beijing established a new city and military garrison on the island of Sansha, extending its reach further into the South China Sea. Next month, police on Hainan island will begin to search and board foreign ships that enter its claimed territory.
Some say this will just add to already growing tensions. But Zhang Jie, an Asia Pacific security analyst says it is more about defending China’s rights than taking a more aggressive stance.
“There has always been a lack of clear provisions to implement or legal basis on matters of the administrative management sea in China, so for example in Xisha or in Zhongsha if the Philippines or Vietnam infringes on the rights of fishermen or if they drill for oil or gas, then what kind of measures should China take? Well, now we have provisions to regulate that,” Zhang explained.
When a dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea flared in September, people took to the streets and the government launched measures to assert its sovereignty, ranging from submitting its oceanic claims to the United Nations to broadcasting the weather for the uninhabited islands.
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