Disrupting Regional Security

China’s use of non-military maritime vessels to advance its sovereignty claims is disrupting regional security in ways that could very well lead to conflict.

‘China’s use of non-military vessels disrupting regional security’

By Jose Katigbak STAR Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON – China’s use of non-military maritime vessels to advance its sovereignty claims in the East and South China Seas is disrupting regional security in ways that could very well lead to conflict, the Center for New American Security said.

A CNAS article by Zachary Hosford and Ely Ratner said the United States needed to develop a more coherent and comprehensive strategy to stem the tide of Chinese coercion and adventurism.

Rather than thinking about security cooperation primarily in bilateral contexts, US officials should reach out to Australia, Japan, Singapore and even allies in Europe to identify specific areas for multilateral cooperation with less advanced militaries in the Asia Pacific.

The US, in concert with major powers in the region and the international community, should not sit idly by if China continues its revisionist efforts to expand Chinese territory at the expense of regional stability, the article said.

It said Chinese maritime law enforcement ships have been harassing legitimate foreign commercial and military vessels, occupying waters that surround disputed land features and making provocative incursions into the territorial waters of neighboring states.

These maritime law enforcement vessels have played a leading role as the tip of the spear of Chinese coercion, it said.

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Source: The Philippine Star.