16-09-2023: If one was to take the Western corporate media at face value, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has made “excessive” maritime claims over the South China Sea, is bullying neighbouring claimant nations, and is provoking them into conflict. However, the Western corporate media is one of the main mouthpieces for US (United States of America) led imperialism, and thus it depicts an upside-down world. In reality, the South China Sea has, as its name implies, always fallen largely within the purview of China. This was effectively recognised internationally until only recently, when Washington’s long pursued military and political encirclement of the PRC extended following effective failures with their anti-China narratives towards Tibet, Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Then, the South China Sea “suddenly” became an area of international concern. In practice, the relentless rise of the PRC’s gigantic socialistic economy has risen to a level which the ruling elites in the West have realised will surpass their own by 2030, if not sooner,[1] and this is the catalyst for much of the Western media to now feign concern for the South China Sea.

Fishing disputes

Despite the noise over clashes between the Coast Guards of the claimant nations in the South China Sea, disputes over fishing vessels and coastal and sea areas belonging to different countries are relatively common around the world. Rarely, if ever, do these lead to a hot war between contending nations. In the South China Sea, there are overlapping claims to various parts by the governments of the PRC, Taiwan (even though Taiwan remains a part of China), the Philippines, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), Malaysia and Brunei.[2] There has been a practice for years by the maritime authorities of many nations, not just those surrounding the South China Sea, of ramming, escorting away and even sinking illegal fishing vessels found within recognised waters. These rogue fishing vessels are apparently often engaged in modern day slavery, using workers trafficked from South East Asian nations.[3]

It is not only the authorities of the PRC who sometimes sink illegal fishing vessels, and in fact, the PRC sinks illegal fishing boats by far the least in comparison to their neighbours. In April 2017, the Indonesian special maritime task force known as Satgas 115 blew up and sank 81 fishing boats caught poaching in its waters. The boats were mostly from Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, with only one coming from China.[4] In 2021, Australian maritime authorities intercepted 16 Indonesian vessels which had sailed past Australia’s Ashmore Reef and were fishing inside its vicinity. The Australian authorities escorted 13 of them out of Australia’s waters but sunk three of them.[5] In February of 2023, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) disposed of seven Vietnamese fishing vessels forfeited by the courts through sinking them and turning them into an artificial reef. Prior to this the MMEA had seized from the boats 1700 fish species, 1.3 tonnes of trash fish, 50 kilograms of sea cucumber and 150 kilograms of dried squid.[6] In previous years, the MMEA has simply set fire to trawlers that trespass into its waters, as a means of deterrent to others who might try their luck.[7] In April this year, the Indonesian maritime authorities seized six vessels for illegal fishing in the North Natuna Sea and Sulawesi waters. Five of them were Filipino, and one was from Vietnam. Some 13 Filipino crew members were arrested, and the Indonesian authorities sought to simply hand over the seized vessels to local Indonesian fishermen.[8]

In 2019, there was an incident where a Vietnamese Coast Guard vessel rammed an Indonesian navy ship. The Indonesian navy was attempting to prevent a Vietnamese fishing boat from entering a southern edge of the South China Sea, which Indonesia claims as its own.[9] In other words, there are ongoing and relatively frequent clashes between the various navies and coast guards of Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia over the right to use marine sea life resources in certain areas of the South China Sea. There are rammings, boat sinkings and boat incinerations by most countries against the fishing vessels of several other neighbouring countries. This has gone on for years, and the PRC is a relatively minor player in this type of action. Yet there is no campaign in the Western corporate media about Indonesian, Malaysian or Vietnamese “aggression” in the South China Sea. According to Western authorities, it is only China which is the source of unruly belligerence.

New Philippine proxy

Almost universally, liberals joined with the US state in criticising former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte as an authoritarian dictator, despite being the most popular President in Filipino history by several orders of magnitude. At one point, he was the most popular leader in the world, with an astonishing 91% approval rating.[10] From the start of his term to the finish, Duterte maintained an emphasis that under no circumstances should there be any conflict, let alone war, with the PRC.[11] Revealingly, liberals and many self-described “leftists” criticised Duterte for not going to war with China! These quislings eventually had their way. New Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has clearly reversed course, allowing the US military to establish four new bases in the Philippines as part of a dramatic escalation of war preparations against the PRC.[12] Unfortunately, the current Filipino administration has lowered itself to the status of a subordinate US proxy state, abolishing the independent stand of the Philippines under the immensely popular former President.

In 1999, the Philippine military deliberately ran aground the World War II era landing ship BRP Sierra Madre on the Ren’ai Reef, probably as a cheeky means to establish some kind of base. In 1935, the then Republic of China publicly declared the Ren’ai Reef to be an indivisible territory of China, and in 1983, the PRC officially changed its name to Ren’ai Jiao.[13] Just last month, the Philippine military has been transferring building materials to a handful of Filipino soldiers stationed on the Madre, under the guise of a temporary agreement with the PRC to supply food to the isolated personnel. These acts are a clear provocation against the PRC, and as a result the China Coast Guard drove away two supply ships and two Fillipino coast guard vessels on August 5, as the PRC retains sovereignty over the Nansha Islands which includes Ren’ai Jiao.[14] Two years ago, the Philippine government protested the presence of 200 Chinese fishing vessels anchored in the Whitsun Reef, located within the disputed Spratly Islands. The PRC authorities stated that the fishing vessels were simply sheltering from strong winds, i.e., not engaging in fishing activity, and that this was quite normal. However, the US government, backed by the governments of Japan, Australia and Canada backed the Philippines government, with US state department spokesperson Ned Price commenting that the US stands with the Philippines regarding concerns of a PRC “maritime militia” gathering in the Whitsun Reef.[15] According to US led imperialism and its acolytes, Chinese fishing boats are a “maritime milita” !

Much is made in the Western corporate media about the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague, which allegedly dismissed the PRC’s claims over parts of the South China Sea, in favour of the Philippines. Yet then Filipino President Duterte at the time stated that this ruling “singles out no one”, and called on all ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) states to abide by the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea  which they all signed in 2002, which stresses self-restraint and a non-militarisation of the South China Sea.[16] What is more, the PCA in the Hague has no jurisdiction over such matters, and was not brought before it by the government of the Philippines, as the Western media claims. It was in fact headed by an American lawyer, Paul S. Reichler of the US based law firm Foley Hoag.[17] Even then, the US state was manoeuvring the Philippines as an emissary acting on behalf of Washington in its many sided military, economic and political moves to contain and encircle the PRC.

UNCLOS

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), nations with a coastline are entitled to territorial waters 12 nautical miles from their shores plus and exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles.[18] UNCLOS is signed and ratified by 150 states, including all South-East Asian and Pacific nations, with the exception of Cambodia which has signed but not ratified.[19] The most notable omission from UNCLOS is the US government, which has sat entirely outside UNCLOS for 41 years.[20] And yet, despite not even being a part of UNCLOS, the US state asserts the right to conduct “freedom of navigation operations” (FONOP) with its warships throughout the South China Sea. The US Navy claims to challenge “excessive maritime claims” and claims to uphold the so-called right of “freedom of navigation” for all nations as a principle[21]…under UNCLOS !! Yet the glaring hypocrisy of US imperialism goes even further. At the end of August, Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto had to issue a clarification after his meeting his US counterpart Lloyd Austin. The US Department of Defence issued a joint press statement stating that Indonesia and the US shared the view that China’s “expansive” maritime claims are inconsistent with international law, and UNCLOS in particular. However, this was entirely fabricated. Minister Subianto reaffirmed that there had been no joint statement with the US, and nor was there a joint press conference. He emphasised that Indonesia has good relations with China, respects America, and seeks friendship with Russia. According to Subianto, Indonesia is non-aligned and befriends all countries.[22]

The US government had simply fabricated the notion that Indonesia was on-side with what are essentially military provocations in the South China Sea against the PRC. And it repeatedly claims that the PRC is in violation of UNCLOS, while the USA itself has never even signed it !!  The US is joined with this constant goading of China by the warships of the United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands,[23] France[24] and Australia.[25] All of these minor imperialist powers bring up the tail behind the US behemoth in constantly sailing up and down the South China Sea, and even through the Taiwan Strait, while ludicrously claiming a right to “freedom of navigation”. One can only imagine what the response would be in the West if Chinese and Russian warships were to sail past the east coast of the US, or past the UK and France, or up and down the east coast of Australia. The clear strategy of imperialism and its satraps is to push and prod the PRC relentlessly with all kinds of military provocations, and then shriek about supposed “aggression” the moment the PRC responds in any way.

No to war

The Western media disingenuously raised alarms recently when the PRC released a map of its territories which appeared to extend the “Nine Dash Line” to a ten-dash line.[26] In reality, the extra dash was just one drawn on the north-eastern side of Taiwan – which all Western governments officially recognise as part of China under the One China policy. While Western government propaganda tries to claim the PRC’s claims in the South China Sea are “excessive” because the islands and reefs are closer to other countries in the region, it is after all the South China Sea. China’s activities there date back some 2000 years. In addition, after World War II, China recovered islands occupied by Japan, and Japan later issued maps clearly marking the South China Sea Islands as part of China. In the 1950s and 60s, the US government repeatedly filed applications to the PRC for surveying in the area, which was an open acknowledgement at the time of Chinese sovereignty in the South China Sea.[27]

Today, the situation is reversed. The PRC is fast becoming, or has become, the number one world power on the basis of its vast manufacturing base together with its scientific and technological advances. US imperialism cannot tolerate a rival, let alone one which surpasses it. The PRC is poised to do just that because its economy does not run primarily on the basis of production for profit. Its giant state-owned enterprises (SOEs) dominate a collectively owned and planned economy which predominantly serves people’s needs. Despite being heavily distorted by Stalinist politics, the PRC has taken the first crucial step towards socialism, which portends a bright future for humanity.

Unfortunately, Washington and its satellites are responding by preparing a catastrophic war on the PRC, which could trigger death for hundreds of millions, the effective collapse of a myriad of world economies dependent on trade with China, and a crisis which would overtake all those that have gone before. The West’s continually ramped up provocations in the South China Sea is just the latest effort to trigger such a military conflict with the PRC, whatever the cost. Washington must bring about an end to socialistic rule on the Chinese mainland, if it is to save the very basis of world capitalism. This should not at all deter working people, for if US led imperialism has almost nothing to offer apart from a world war, it is more clear than ever that its time has well and truly passed. If workers East and West can forge genuinely Trotskyist vanguard parties, a proletarian political revolution in the PRC combined with socialist revolutions in the West are within their grasp – and the threat of war will wither away.

WORKERS  LEAGUE    

www.redfireonline.com      

E: workersleague@protonmail.com


For more on the class nature of the People’s Republic of China, please review the recently re-released Workers League pamphlet Socialistic Rule and Workers Struggle in China. (below)

SRWISC – 2023

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[1] www.thehill.com/policy/finance/531688-china-expected-to-surpass-us-economy-in-2028-analysis/ (07-09-2023)

[2] www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1099264 (07-09-2023)

[3] www.news.yahoo.com/news/indonesia-sinks-125-mostly-foreign-illegal-fishing-vessels- (07-09-2023)

[4] www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-blows-up-and-sinks-another-81-fishing-boats-for-poaching (07-09-2023)

[5] www.smh.com.au/world/asia/indonesia-backs-down-in-row-with-australia-over-torched-fishing-boats-20211110-p597t0.html (07-09-2023)

[6] www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2023/02/16/kelantan-mmea-disposes-of-seven-seized-vietnamese-boats (07-09-2023)

[7] www.todayonline.com/world/asia/malaysia-sets-fire-illegal-foreign-fishing-boat (07-09-2023)

[8] www.en.antaranews.com/news/278205/six-foreign-boats-illegally-fishing-in-natuna-sulawesi-seas-seized (07-09-2023)

[9] www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3008485/sinking-captured-fishing-boats-deterrent-not-retaliation (07-09-2023)

[10] www.gulfnews.com/photos/news/duterte-is-the-worlds-most-popular-leader-heres-why-1.1603804149597?slide=1 (12-09-2023)

[11] www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229929.shtml (12-09-2023)

[12] www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-23/marcos-says-us-military-bases-to-be-scattered-around-philippines/102132800 (12-09-2023)

[13] www.min.news/en/military/cc565c42fd2e7697dccaea6c3ab6ba26.html (12-09-2023)

[14] www.globaltimes.cn/page/202308/1296738.shtml (12-09-2023)

[15] www.news.mongabay.com/2021/03/chinese-fishing-fleet-anchored-on-philippine-reef-raises-tensions/ (12-09-2023)

[16] www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1158003 (12-09-2023)

[17] www.journal-neo.su/2016/08/27/us-international-court-ruling-on-china-falls-short/ (12-09-2023)

[18] www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf (12-09-2023)

[19] www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parties_to_the_United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea (12-09-2023)

[20] www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/june/it-time-united-states-ratify-unclos (12-09-2023)

[21] www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/2904862/7th-fleet-destroyer-conducts-freedom-of-navigation-operation-in-south-china-sea/ (12-09-2023)

[22] www.en.antaranews.com/news/292485/no-joint-statement-with-us-on-chinas-south-china-sea-claims-subianto (12-09-2023)

[23] www.maritime-executive.com/article/uk-s-carrier-strike-group-exercises-in-south-china-sea (12-09-2023)

[24] www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3123342/south-china-sea-why-france-flexing-its-muscles-contested (12-09-2023)

[25] www.apnews.com/article/china-australia-navy-south-sea-darwin-a9cd22a08c16964b42067419b852d8a3 (12-09-2023)

[26] www.news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/31/23/philippines-protests-new-china-map-over-west-ph-sea-claims (12-09-2023)

[27] www.news.cgtn.com/news/2023-08-08/Ren-ai-Jiao-clashes-between-China-Philippines-explained-1m6ffHQ9WKs/index.html (12-09-2023)

Photo: World War II Filipino vessel the BRP Sierra Madre remains grounded on the Ren’ai Reef, despite being within the recognised sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). http://www.scmp.com