China has rebuffed allegations from the United States and Japan, dismissing their criticisms regarding China’s activities in the South and East China Seas and its wider defence and overseas policies as harmful and irresponsible. Beijing pointed the finger at Washington and its allies, describing them as the instigators of maritime tension, compromising peace and stability in the area.
The Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Lin Jian, countered on Monday that, while these nations assert their commitment to regional peace and a norm-based global order, they are in actuality establishing alliances, orchestrating exclusionary groups, manipulating political circumstances and sparking conflicts, thereby posing genuine threats to regional peace and harmony.
On the preceding Sunday, the United States and Japan had finalised a novel joint military arrangement in response to what they catalogued as a “dynamic security landscape”. The two nations’ foreign and defence ministers identified China as the paramount strategic adversary in the region in their joint statement.
They consented on the point that China’s foreign policy has an agenda of tinkering with the international order to serve its own interests at the detriment of others. They highlighted China’s use of political, economic, and military intimidation of nations, corporations, and civil society along with its diversion of technology for military modernisation to achieve these ends.
Over 54,000 US troops are currently stationed in Japan, supplemented with numerous aircraft and an aircraft carrier assault group. The newly agreed deal on Sunday will see the US re-establish its military command in Japan, not just as a joint force headquarters, but also with a fresh emphasis on “prolonged deterrence” and the conditions under which Washington could deploy a nuclear weapon in defence of Japan.
Japan’s post-war constitution’s article 9 forbids the resolution of international conflicts through warfare, and prohibits the sustenance of armed forces with potential for war. However, in 2014, the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe permitted a reinterpretation of this article, enabling Japanese forces to participate in military action if an ally is attacked.
Lloyd Austin, US defense secretary, stated that, “this will mark the most significant modification to US forces in Japan since their establishment, and one of the most substantial enhancements in our military relations with Japan in seven decades.”
Over the past ten years, China has escalated its assertion over several reefs and islands located in the South and East China Seas, regardless of the 2016 UN arbitration decision that refuted all its claims. Previous month witnessed conflicts between Chinese coastal guards and Philippine personnel resupplying forces on a marine vessel stranded at the contested Second Thomas Shoal.
A temporary agreement was reached between Beijing and Manila, which permitted the replenishment of the Philippines vessel last Saturday, with the Chinese coast guard observing from afar. Nonetheless, the Quad, consisting of foreign ministers from the US, Japan, India, and Australia, voiced concern on Monday about perceived “bullying and threatening manoeuvres” in the South China Sea.
In a collective declaration, they expressed considerable anxiety over the menace posed by the use of coast guard and sea militia vessels, the escalation in the use of numerous forms of threatening manoeuvres and attempts to interfere with the offshore resource-gathering activities of other nations.
The defence secretary, Mr Austin, and the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, are scheduled to travel to Manila on Tuesday, as Washington has been urging the Philippines to strengthen its defence alliances with other regional allies. However, Beijing has admonished the US for meddling and igniting arguments in the South China Sea, which it believes should be resolved through bilateral discussions.
Some countries outside the region are frequently sending advanced military aircraft and vessels to the South China Sea to flex their muscles and stir up tensions, according to Mr Lin. Despite claiming to maintain order, they are in reality upholding the laws and traditions fabricated by a few countries,” Lin remarked.