Earlier today an American cruiser sailed across the South China Sea, undermining Chinese influence in the region. Here’s what happened.
Tensions between the two most powerful countries in the world heightened again on Tuesday morning. A United States vessel crossed the South China Sea, a move that Beijing deemed a sovereignty violation.
The leaders of the two countries, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, met ahead of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. There they spoke the usual diplomatic language of cooperation between the two countries, though neither seemed willing to find a compromise to ease tensions.
Both China and the United States have, on the contrary, increased tensions in the area in the last few years. China, especially after Xi’s rise to power, has increased the size of its army and claimed vast areas of the South China Sea.
What China claims as part of their maritime economic zone overlaps that of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. Not to mention, of course, that Chinese claims include the island of Taiwan as if it were part of Beijing’s territory.
To further assess their dominance in the area, China has built several military bases on artificial islands all over the region. The biggest concentration are the so-called Spratlys Islands, again built violating sovereignty of the countries in the region.
And again, this is not even to mention the several violations of Taiwan’s air and naval space. In the last decade, China has pursued an increasingly threatening attitude against the island, sparking fears of possible invasion.
The role of the United States
The United States, for their part, have tried to establish their dominance in that region as well. Not by forcefully violating other countries’ sovereignty, rather forging alliances with the minor powers in the area.
Ever since WWII and the US defeat of Japan, Washington has had a strong presence in the Pacific. Such presence is both physical (on small and unclaimed islands like Guam and the Marshalls) and diplomatic. They have many times backed Taiwan, saying that they would defend them in case of an aggression.
Their constant presence has many times angered China, which considers itself as the overlord of the Pacific. On Tuesday, American cruiser USS Chanchellorsville sailed across the Spratlys Islands, causing rage in Beijing.
The move was part of the Freedom of Navigation Operation, a US programme whose mission is to sail international waters freely. Of course, it is also a way to undermine China’s aggressive foreign policy in the region.
This is not the first of such endeavors by the US this year. A few months ago, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flew to Taiwan, an unprecedented move by the US that always preferred neutrality over the matter.
The words shared between Biden and Xi do not seem to be enough to ease tensions. On the contrary, they risk being forgotten early if things continue to go south like this.
