重點不在這裡！當Daniel Russel說「全世界的沙土堆在一起也不能製造主權」

【Comment】

At a dinner party about five years ago, I pointed out a harsh condition that the US would face: China would split the Seventh Fleet’s AOR into two separate areas by unilaterally controlling South China Sea.  Unfortunately, the nightmare has more than real.

Commenting on Chinese fast moves on South China Sea, Daniel Russel, the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, remarked that no matter how much sand China piles up on reefs, it can't "manufacture sovereignty."  International laws, such as UNCLOS, give marine vessels the right of the Innocent passage to sail through territorial sea; foreign aircraft have every legitimate right to fly outside the 12-mile territorial space.

Delibeately ignoring international laws, Beijing insisted on establishing its first ADIZ on East China Sea in 2013 and has demanded all aircrafts flying over the zone to Chinese authority for prior to the actual flight.  Now China is expanding her self-claimed authority over her EEZ.  Chinese military infrastructures together with weapons and radar stations are already there, exercising actual functions.  PLA is warning all foreign vessels and air planes that pass the self-claimed “military alert zone” and “zone of control.”  Without doubt, the man-made islands are more than just piles of sands.

That is the harsh point when the physical strength means to challenge the legitimate rights.

However, it fires back: Beijing’s serial self-indulgent moves are unifying the neighboring countries whose legitimate rights under UNCLOS are infringed by China.  The US successfully invited some 22 countries to Hawaii attending PALS, the USPACOM-led Amphibious Leaders Symposium, part of Culebra Koa 15.

The news reported that the US had a few talks with Taiwan on the issue.  Besides arranging formulation and the support of the amphibious mission, it might also express the US’s grave concerns about the suggestion of the cooperation between MYJ administration and China in the official 2010 Assessment Report on South China Sea. 

Daniel Russel meant to downgrade the tension arising from Chinese unilateral moves, but few will believe his optimistic assurance that there is no risk of armed conflict.    revised at 2045

約五年前吧？我在一場餐會上指出：中國將以南海切割第七艦隊防區，從而解構美軍全球調度資源。現在，惡夢逐漸成真。

Daniel Russel說「全世界的沙土堆在一起也不能製造主權」；國際法賦予船隻「領海的無害通過權」：飛機也有權飛越領海外。顯示北京此舉是白紙黑字上的無效。

但北京不是這樣想：中國在東海ADIZ聲稱：飛機飛越其ADIZ需要中國同意，專更別說200海里的屬經濟區。無法國際法如何規定，PLA的機場、港口、預警雷達、防空飛彈實際存在，發揮著真正的影響力。PLA的military alert zone , zone of control，表明此意圖。

這是頭痛的地方，但頭痛也是助力——美國就成功集合22國進行奪島論壇與觀摩。

所謂美台有多次商討，一來是阻止馬政府「兩岸合組艦隊」的想像，二來是將來發生奪島時的聯合支援。

羅素的受訪是滅火，澄清美中沒有走向戰爭的跡象。但沒有人相信。

軍機偵察被共軍警告 美助卿回嗆：正常人不會想阻止美海軍○自由 (2015.05.23)

〔駐美特派員曹郁芬／華府二十一日報導〕美國國務院亞太助卿羅素今天表示，歐巴馬政府讓美國有線電視新聞網（ＣＮＮ）登上美國「海神式」反潛巡邏機進行偵察南海報導，目的是「透明化」，美國要分享所做與所見的。他堅持，美國在「國際水域和國際領空」進行這些活動完全恰當，美國會繼續在全球完全地執行這些權利。

羅素上週末才隨美國國務卿凱瑞訪問北京。他今天在外籍記者中心就亞洲情勢向媒體簡報，美中在南海的較勁成為焦點。對於中國海軍曾對美國偵察機發出八次警告，羅素回嗆，「沒有一個心智正常的人會想要阻止美國海軍」，那是一個錯誤的賭注。

「全世界的沙土堆在一起也不能製造主權」

他表示，全世界的沙土堆在一起也不能製造主權，問題不在沙土，而在行為。歐巴馬政府讓ＣＮＮ隨偵察機飛過中國控制的永暑礁等礁石，因為沒有人希望一覺醒來看見有人片面改變現狀，見到中國在南海擴張並部署軍事設施。大家清楚了解事實後，才有機會清楚地對話。

他說，凱瑞和中國國家主席習近平等人會面時，表達了美國對中國在南海造島的嚴重關切，因為這不僅造成情勢的不穩定，中國片面的行動甚至讓鄰邦感受到威脅。美國在南海主權爭議上不採取立場，但美國在航行和飛行自由、自由貿易上有立場，而且會堅定維護。凱瑞告訴中方，南海問題確實衝擊到美中關係。

羅素表示，許多國家在南海都有利益，但南海是一個共同利益，沒有一個國家的利益可以違反國際法，所有主權爭議應依據國際法，透過外交和平解決，中國沒有理由不能在今年十二月和東協國家達成南海行為準則的共識。不過他強調，美中關係基礎堅實，美中並沒有走到一個攤牌的轉捩點。

亞太副助卿透露 美台曾多次討論南海情勢

美國亞太副助卿董雲裳今天在布魯金斯研究所演講時則表示，美國針對令人憂心的南海情勢與台灣有過數次討論，台灣是一個主權宣示國，擁有太平島，愈來愈有興趣參與解決南海爭議，美國認為這有建設性。

基本上，美國明確呼籲所有南海主權宣示國避免採取片面行動來改變現狀，台灣願意扮演有助益的角色，可以和東協與其他宣示國對話。至於美國政府是否要求台灣政府澄清南海十一段線的主張，董雲裳說，美國要求所有南海主權宣示國根據國際法澄清自己的主張，不管台灣未來哪一個黨執政，美國立場不變。美國也反對在有爭議的領土上擴張或強化設施以改變現狀，這些都違反國際海洋法公約。

Lawmakers press admin over response to China island building○AP (2015.05.13)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators pressured the Obama administration on Wednesday for a more robust response to China's provocative actions in East Asian seas, as concern grows in Washington that Beijing is building artificial islands to assert military control over disputed territory.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, complained that the administration lacked a "coherent policy," and disputed the administration's view that China is losing international stature because of its provocative moves.

"I see no price whatsoever that China is playing for their activities in the South and East China Seas. None. In fact, I see us paying a price," Corker said. "We see our friends coming in constantly worried about where we are, what our commitment levels are."

Secretary of State John Kerry is traveling this weekend to Beijing, where he is to meet with President Xi Jinping. U.S. officials say he'll be carrying a message that China's large-scale land reclamation and general behavior in the South China Sea will hurt China's image and its relations with its neighbors and, potentially, with the United States itself.

China has rattled the region with its assertive claims both over islands held by Japan in the East China Sea, and in the South China Sea, where islands and reefs are contested by China and five other Asian claimants. China has reclaimed about 2,000 acres of dry land since 2014 that could be used as airstrips or for military purposes, according to U.S. officials.

China claims the islands are its territory. Its Foreign Ministry on Wednesday voiced serious concern about a Wall Street Journal report, which cited anonymous U.S. officials, that the U.S. is considering sending military ships and planes to challenge Chinese claims to islands it is building.

The assistant secretary of defense for the Asia-Pacific, David Shear, declined to comment on the report at the committee hearing Wednesday, and on whether the U.S. was considering a demonstration of freedom of navigation within 12 nautical miles of the islands' notional territorial zone. But Shear said many of the features claimed by China in the disputed Spratly island chain are submerged and do not carry territorial rights.

"We claim the right of innocent passage in such areas and we exercise that right regularly both in the South China Sea and globally, and we are going to continue exercising that right both under the surface of the water and in the air," he said.

Top diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, said that no matter how sand China piles up on reefs, it can't "manufacture sovereignty."  He said the U.S. is calling for restraint on territorial disputes, and "diplomacy will continue to be our instrument of first resort."

Russel maintained that China's provocative actions had hurt its standing.  He cited recent, thinly veiled criticism of China by the Southeast Asian bloc and a legal challenge brought by the Philippines.  The United States is "increasingly in demand" as a guarantor of security in the region, he said.

"If the Chinese strategy was to freeze us out, it has backfired," Russel said.

But the top-ranking Democrat on the committee, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, complained that sometimes it appears that the only U.S. response to provocative actions by China is a "press release."

U.S.  Flies Over a Chinese Project at Sea, and Beijing Objects○NY Times(2015.05.22)

WASHINGTON — The United States and China on Friday escalated their dispute over contested territory in the South China Sea, after the Chinese repeatedly ordered an American military surveillance plane to abandon flights over areas where China has been building artificial islands.

The continued American surveillance flights in areas where China is creating new islands in the South China Sea are intended to challenge the Chinese government’s claims of expanded territorial sovereignty.  Further raising the challenge, Pentagon officials said they were discussing sending warships into waters that the United States asserts are international and open to passage, but that China says are within its zone of control.

The Defense Department planning comes in response to China’s accelerated efforts to build new islands in the South China Sea to bolster claims to a vastly expanded area of sovereignty, a direct challenge to the United States and other nations in the region.

The Chinese government expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with the surveillance flights, while urging the United States to cease actions that they said risked increasing tensions.  Hong Lei, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, warned that the American flights, which he called “very irresponsible and dangerous,” were “likely to cause an accident.”

But the Obama administration was adamant in saying that the American Navy surveillance flights were made in international airspace.  Officials from the State Department and the Pentagon said that China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea was undermining stability in the region and that the Chinese had no business building airstrips on the contested Spratly Islands.

“This land reclamation is going fast,” Cmdr. William Marks, the Navy’s chief of media, said in an interview on Friday.  “Really fast — faster than we ever imagined.”  He said the Navy had no intention of stopping its almost daily reconnaissance flights.

“We have freedom of flight over international airspace,” he said.

The Navy on Thursday released video footage of an incident Wednesday when a Chinese military dispatcher issued eight warnings — in English — to a Navy P8-A Poseidon surveillance plane as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef, the site of an extensive Chinese land reclamation project in the Spratly Islands, a group reefs halfway between Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea.  The Navy also released video footage that it said documented the continued expansion of the reefs, which have been turned into artificial islands with airport infrastructure, including a runway.

American military officials took a CNN crew along on the Navy reconnaissance flight on Wednesday; a military official said the decision to take a television crew and to release the video footage was deliberate.

“It’s important that the American public, and the Asian public, too, understands what’s going on out there,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about a delicate international issue.

A second Defense Department official said discussions were underway on whether the military would increase its naval presence in international waters in the area, including additional patrols using frigates, destroyers and small combat ships.  Such a move would most likely further annoy China.  Disagreement over the Spratly Islands has continued for several years.  The Spratlys are claimed by at least three other countries, including the Philippines, an American ally; and Vietnam, which has sought warmer relations with Washington.

Earlier this year, analysts released satellite images of a concrete runway that China was building on Fiery Cross Reef, one of the Spratly Islands.  The runway is expected to be about 10,000 feet long.  The construction on Fiery Cross Reef is part of a larger Chinese reclamation project involving scores of dredgers on at least five islands.  China is converting tiny reefs, once barely visible above water, into islands large enough to handle military hardware, personnel and recreation centers for workers.

The Chinese government has maintained that the reclamation efforts are meant to serve civilian purposes like providing a base for search-and-rescue operations.  But the Chinese military has also said that the reclamation is for “necessary military defense.”

A senior administration official expressed concern that China was trying to build up the islands as a way to make a case for Chinese sovereignty — to “create facts on the ground — and we can’t allow that.”

Separately, Daniel R. Russel, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told reporters that American military aircraft would continue to exercise the right to operate in international airspace.

Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has asserted claims in the South China Sea that have increasingly butted against Asian allies of the United States.  In particular, the issue of territorial boundaries has come into play.

The United States says that foreign aircraft have the right to fly over waters beyond a nation’s 12-mile territorial line.  China, meanwhile, asserts that foreign aircraft do not have the right to fly within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone without permission.

The contentious issue has flared up before.  In late 2013, China set off a trans-Pacific uproar when it declared that an “air defense identification zone” gave it the right to identify and possibly take military action against aircraft near disputed islands in the East China Sea.  Japan, which administers the islands, refused to recognize China’s claim, and the United States has since defied China by sending military planes into the zone, unannounced.

The islands, known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese, are a seven-hour boat ride from Japan, even farther from China.  But they, like the Spratlys, have been at the center of ongoing territorial disputes among China and its neighbors.

Pentagon officials say they worry that China will try to declare another air defense identification zone over the Spratlys.  “Is this foreshadowing?” one Defense Department official, who spoke anonymously to discuss a national security matter, said on Friday.  “Well, we can certainly see them trying.”

“The Navy flyover was a measured response, meant to signal to the Chinese that the world is watching — literally — their provocative reclaiming of land that people don’t agree that they own,” said Andrew L.  Oros, an associate professor of political science at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., and a specialist on East Asia.  “This idea that China has, that it can just act unilaterally when other people don’t agree, has to be confronted.”

To build the artificial island, China has dispatched concrete pylons on cargo vessels from the mainland to build a retaining wall and create the island and a harbor, according to Sean O’Connor, a former United States Air Force intelligence analyst who now works as the principal imagery analyst for IHS Janes, a publication that examines military issues.

China has used dozens of dredges that suck up sand and then dump it to make landfill and has constructed concrete manufacturing plants to provide asphalt for runways, he said.

Mr.  O’Connor said the Chinese seemed to be particularly focused on the runway.  “It looks as though they go over and over it again to make it thick, and can take any kind of plane,” he said in a telephone interview.  In particular, he said, the Chinese would be interested in landing bombers and fighter jets.

Dan Levin contributed reporting from Beijing.  Yufan Huang contributed research from Beijing.