South China Sea - The Far-Eastern Theatre
Welcome to the Orient. This page will contain all writings related to the Far-East. This will primarily focus on the Chinese economic ascension and its affects on surrounding nations; but will not be limited to this. It will also cover Pacific diplomacy, the Indian Subcontinent and Australasia.
20111201 - A note on BBC reporting bias
On the 18th of November, the BBC website ran this story regarding the maritime claim dispute ongoing in the South China Sea, principally between China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, The Philippines & Taiwan. This article can be found here. Now I wish to draw attention primarily to the image supplied with the piece, seen below.
The Image clearly denotes the primary disputing nations and the Internationally defined Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ’s) as well as a large red line denoting the Chinese claim. The EEZ’s are defined by UN provisions made at the United Nations Conference on the Law Of the Sea III (UNCLOS III) in 1973. The provisions stipulate that any country has exclusive right to any resources up to 200 nautical miles off of the coastal baseline, with borders extended out perpendicular to the baseline at national coastal borders. These boundaries were initially set out to regulate fishing disputes however they do become relevant when considering another potentially valuable resource. Furthermore in 1994 Part XI established the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to regulate any seabed exploration outside of EEZ’s.
The question I ask is, why is only the Chinese territorial claim shown on this map. None of the key nations involved in the dispute accept these boundaries. All in fact have individual claims. The map shown below highlights the claims of some of the other nations involved. This is sourced from an article from earlier in the year, found here. This image shows multiple claims overlapping across the South China Sea, where although all nations involved have signed and ratified UNCLOS, all seek to claim more.
The question I ask is, why is only the Chinese territorial claim shown on this map. None of the key nations involved in the dispute accept these boundaries. All in fact have individual claims. The map shown below highlights the claims of some of the other nations involved. This is sourced from an article from earlier in the year, found here. This image shows multiple claims overlapping across the South China Sea, where although all nations involved have signed and ratified UNCLOS, all seek to claim more.
The disputes have resulted in several small conflicts resulting in deaths since the mid seventies. In July 2010 Hilary Clinton called for the Chinese to resolve the territorial disputes (AP). This occurred while both Navies were on exercise in the Pacific, this led to the US Department of Defense issuing a statement opposing the use of force to resolve the dispute (AP). Throughout this period the Chinese refused to co-operate with international involvement in what it saw as a local dispute.
Now this year, the ASEAN have again been pushing for multilateral talks, however China has been demanding Bi-lateral talks instead (talking with each nation individually rather than having everyone at the same table). It is unknown if multilateral talks would hasten any resolution but Chinese detractors claim this action is obstructive. Obama while in talks, has called for resolution himself while expressing that the US has no interests in South-East Asia. Meanwhile, it was announced US Marines are to be stationed in Australia.
Now I will cover US-China sabre-rattling in future posts. My point is, the article most certainly portrays China as the bullying aggressor here. While they may be staking an unfeasible claim, it is no different from any of the other involved nations. The deliberate omission of this leads to the conclusion that the BBC is keen to portray China in a less than perfect light in this article. While I can be accused of speculation, we should all be skeptical of any news, from any source, and if you want to know the full story, be prepared to do your own research.
Now this year, the ASEAN have again been pushing for multilateral talks, however China has been demanding Bi-lateral talks instead (talking with each nation individually rather than having everyone at the same table). It is unknown if multilateral talks would hasten any resolution but Chinese detractors claim this action is obstructive. Obama while in talks, has called for resolution himself while expressing that the US has no interests in South-East Asia. Meanwhile, it was announced US Marines are to be stationed in Australia.
Now I will cover US-China sabre-rattling in future posts. My point is, the article most certainly portrays China as the bullying aggressor here. While they may be staking an unfeasible claim, it is no different from any of the other involved nations. The deliberate omission of this leads to the conclusion that the BBC is keen to portray China in a less than perfect light in this article. While I can be accused of speculation, we should all be skeptical of any news, from any source, and if you want to know the full story, be prepared to do your own research.