A Sea Change in U.S.-China Naval Relations?
- Associated Press
- The aircraft carrier USS George Washington
That’s what some U.S. analysts fear—and many in China are hoping for—after Washington announced that it will hold a portion of planned joint naval operations with South Korea in the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, and not entirely in the Yellow Sea between Korea and China, where they were originally expected to take place.
Analysts had speculated that this meant the U.S. planned to deploy the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the Sea of Japan to avoid upsetting China, which has vehemently objected to the idea of the aircraft carrier operating in the Yellow Sea—even though the U.S. navy has long done operations there.
And indeed, South Korean Vice Defense Minister Chang Soo-man told the Associated Press that the exercises will go ahead in the “near future,” and said a U.S. aircraft carrier would only be deployed to the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean peninsula. U.S. officials would not confirm Chang’s comments.
The concern of some analysts is that refraining from sending the George Washington to the Yellow Sea will make it harder for the navy to operate in waters near China as freely as in years past, and turn every potential deployment into a subject of bilateral debate. Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum, a Hawaii-based arm of the Washington think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Wall Street Journal the navy needs to assert its presence in the Yellow Sea by at least making a port call at Incheon, on the west coast of South Korea.
“We are setting a bad precedent and allowing China to expand its definition of core interests, making it more difficult and controversial next time we go to [the] Yellow Sea,” he said.
The U.S.-South Korea naval drills were intended as a display of bilateral unity against a belligerent North Korea after the March Cheonan incident. The drills have been delayed since June, following repeated objections by China that military drills in the Yellow Sea would further destabilize the region.
Some in China also see a precedent in the possible decision not to deploy the George Washington in the Yellow Sea—and they are celebrating. On Friday, the Global Times, a popular state-run newspaper that often runs nationalist fare, ran an editorial arguing that this case is a turning point in how the U.S. Navy operates near China. The editorial argued that the Yellow Sea should be seen as a “boundary marker” in the Pentagon’s future decision making. “The Chinese people’s endurance is not a spring that can be pressed over and over,” it said.
The Navy’s presence in the Yellow Sea isn’t new, nor has China previously so vehemently opposed U.S. operations there, U.S. officials say. But China’s efforts to rid its coastal waters of U.S. influence are not new, having manifested themselves several times in recent years. Last year, the Pentagon complained after a group of Chinese vessels aggressively challenged an unarmed U.S. naval surveillance ship in international waters off China’s southern coast. In 2001, a Chinese fighter jet intercepted and collided with a U.S. surveillance plane. The Chinese jet crashed and the U.S. plane was forced to making an emergency landing.
Even though U.S. operations in the Yellow Sea would take place in international waters, China challenges that foreign military ships should not operate in what the U.N. has designated the country’s “exclusive economic zone.” The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea gives countries territorial waters of 12 nautical miles and economic zones of 200 nautical miles. While foreign ships can operate in the economic zones, China has argued that doesn’t apply to foreign military ships. Few other countries share China’s view about coastal waters.
While the George Washington may be headed to the Sea of Japan, the U.S. has made clear a portion of the exercises will still take place in the Yellow Sea. Even if this case marks a turning point in how the U.S. navy operates near China, it’s unlikely the military will begin viewing the Yellow Sea as off-limits. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said at a briefing this week that the military’s decision to operate in international waters is not a decision to be made by other countries. “Those determinations are made by us, and us alone,” he said.
– Brian Spegele
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