Fight or flight in the South China Sea

[xchrom]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MF09Ae01.html

Lately China has exhibited symptoms of bipolar disorder in its approach to the thorny question of sovereignty over the South China Sea.

Addressing Southeast Asian counterparts last weekend, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guangjie murmured familiar mantras about its outlook on the South China Sea: China will never seek hegemony or military expansion ... China is committed to maintaining peace and stability through security cooperation ... China unswervingly adopts the policy of forging friendly and good-neighborly relations.

In his bilateral contacts at a regional security dialogue in Singapore, Liang seemed intent on persuading members of the


Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to exclude the United States from discussions aimed at lowering tensions. Yet, scarcely days earlier, Chinese coast guard vessels were engaged in unprecedented thuggery against rival claimants to the 3.5 million square kilometers of ocean that stretch south from Taiwan to the Malacca Straits, activities Beijing describes as "regular maritime law enforcement and surveillance activities in the waters under the jurisdiction of China".

Four ASEAN states, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, claim parts of this maritime area, claims based on application of the United Nations Charter on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) rules on dividing up an enclosed continental shelf. Vietnam additionally asserts rights derived from its exploitation of the area's rich fisheries and seasonal occupation of certain islets rich in guano, abalone and sea cucumbers stretching back at least to the 1600s.

[Igel]

1. "Bipolar disorder"? China strikes me as consistent.

It's just that speech acts aren't the same as real acts, and many really want to confuse the two.

Sometimes if you understand the truth that real acts trump speech acts it leads to concern, and that might lead to action. Better to confuse the two and be at ease, working on the things you prefer to work on and think are important than to let a non-verbal reality intrude.