Japan overtly meddling
Updated: 2016-04-06 07:42
(China Daily)
|
|||||||||
A formation of the Nanhai Fleet of China's Navy on Saturday finished a three-day patrol of the Nansha islands in the South China Sea. [Photo/Xinhua] |
In this year's "shoulder-to-shoulder" military exercises between the United States and the Philippines, Australia is sending 80 soldiers to participate, and Japan has sent two frigates and one submarine, showing its eager desire for larger involvement.
The increasingly open intervention of external forces in the South China Sea and the emergence of signs that an alliance is being formed add even more uncertainties to the situation.
Due to China's self-restraint, up to now territorial disputes and frictions over maritime rights in the South China Sea have been generally under control. The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed between China and relevant Southeast Asian nations and talks on the making of a code of conduct had made the easing of tensions a general trend.
Yet the forcible intervention of the US and the involvement of Japan and Australia are transforming the South China Sea into an arena for the power games and accumulating military risks for the broader Asia-Pacific. This is because the US seems to be taking the South China Sea as a key area where it can contain China's rise and build a China-targeted Asia-Pacific alliance or quasi-alliance.
Compared with Australia, whose participation in the US-led military activities in this region is to a certain extent due to its military alliance with Washington, Japan has shown much more interest in the South China Sea. In Tokyo's eyes, its involvement can not only contain China but also offer a good starting point for its Self-Defense Forces to conduct a larger range of military operations overseas. It is foreseeable that Japan will have more overt and semi-overt military intervention in the South China Sea.
The deeper involvement of external forces such as the US and Japan is turning the South China Sea into a wrestling ring for power and reducing the possibility of peaceful settlement.
- Xi: Talks 'only correct way' for China, ROK
- Xi to Obama: Disputes should be managed
- Cypriot court remands in custody man suspected of hijacking EgyptAir flight
- Govt eyes luxury tourists amid concerns over safety
- Sleep tight and don't let sharks bite at Paris aquarium
- Aung San Suu Kyi appointed as Myanmar's new foreign minister
- Microsoft embraces artificial intelligence
- Yao Ming introduced to Hall of Fame
- The world in photos: March 28 - April 3
- Discover beautiful China in spring blossom (V)
- 'Pit yards' to open to visitors
- Ancestral temples continue to bring family members together
- Culture Insider: 8 things you may not know about Clear and Bright
- Discover beautiful China in spring blossom (IV)
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Anti-graft campaign targets poverty relief |
Cherry blossom signal arrival of spring |
In pictures: Destroying fake and shoddy products |
China's southernmost city to plant 500,000 trees |
Cavers make rare finds in Guangxi expedition |
Cutting hair for Longtaitou Festival |
Today's Top News
Marriott unlikely to top Anbang offer for Starwood: Observers
Chinese biopharma debuts on Nasdaq
What ends Jeb Bush's White House hopes
Investigation for Nicolas's campaign
Will US-ASEAN meeting be good for region?
Accentuate the positive in Sino-US relations
Dangerous games on peninsula will have no winner
National Art Museum showing 400 puppets in new exhibition
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |