The United States version of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is a typical hegemonic way of thinking and logic. It is ill-intentioned and mischievous. If the US fails to correct its wrongdoing, it could suffer bitterly when Sino-US relations and regional security are seriously damaged due to US strategic misjudgment and blunders.
The first problem is that the US has failed to show minimum respect for China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by sending its guided missile destroyer USS Lassen into near-shore waters (or waters within 12 nautical miles) of China’s isles in the South China Sea. It is known to all that China has stated on many occasions that it has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and the adjacent waters. China’s sovereignty and the relevant rights in the South China Sea are formed in the long historical course and are protected by international law. The US is well aware that Chinese fishermen discovered these islands and conducted fishing operations there long before the US was born and that China started to exercise sovereignty over the South China Sea islands long before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) went into effect. As mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is the basic norm of international relations, the US is duty-bound to make a careful study of China’s solemn position on this vital issue and show proper respect for China’s sovereignty instead of taking provocative actions.
The second problem is that the US has no proper right to manipulate the interpretation of the UNCLOS. The US Congress so far hasn’t even ratified the UNCLOS and the US is not a signatory to the UNCLOS. It sounds ridiculous to regard the US interpretation of the UNCLOS as the only and most authentic. The US arbitrary interpretation should not be used as an excuse for redefining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. The US is not the only judge or referee, though the US may believe it is, to interpret such issues as the application of the UNCLOS articles to specific islands and reefs, the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea, the relationship between the territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, security zones, high seas and islands, different kinds of reefs, artificial islands and land territories. It is in the interests of China, the US and the international community to get together for detailed discussions of, consultations and negotiations on those issues, instead of US taking unilateral actions to harm the interests of others.
The third problem is that the US is pursuing a gunboat policy, or showing its military force in the South China Sea by sending military vessels instead of merchant ships into the region. What is hard to understand is that the US military vessel did not take normal waterways, but selected near-shore waters of the Chinese isles for passage. Such careful planning of the so-called “freedom –of –navigation” cruise is actually an intentional provocation to China’s sovereignty. It is absolutely not a practice of freedom of navigation under international law in the true sense.
The fourth problem is that the US is going on its wrong way stubbornly by declaring that it will conduct regular military patrols in the South China Sea, in spite of the fact that the situation there has been peaceful and freedom of navigation has been all along fully ensured. Such obstinate military actions and plans of the US will inevitably harm Sino-US relations and regional security. By so doing, the US would degenerate into a troublemaker in the region.
