U.S. patience with
China is wearing thin, according to an official from President Barack Obama's
administration. The comment was made in reference to plans for large-scale
cooperation between the coast guards of the U.S. and Japan to maintain law and
order in the South China Sea.
What is especially irritating the U.S. is China expanding its territorial reach
by reclaiming land in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
The cooperation plan was
mentioned in a document released after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with
the U.S. President at the White House at the end of April, which in a way makes
it look like it does not relate to China.
The document,
"U.S.-Japan Cooperation for a More Prosperous and Stable World," says
that as part of their cooperation for "maritime security" the U.S.
and Japan seek to "strengthen regional cooperation to combat piracy and
armed robbery against ships through Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating
Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP)."
This extract, which seems
to only refer to greater cooperation for the fight against piracy, actually
represents a strategic move with far more significant implications for the
security situation in the region, said a Japanese diplomatic source.
The statement means coast
guards from the two countries will work together with their Southeast Asian
counterparts to stop China's massive and rapid land reclamation work on reefs
in the disputed Spratly Islands. The U.S. and Japan will try to expand and
strengthen their collective presence in the South China Sea and keep an eye on
China's activities.
China's
"inland sea"
The legal framework for ReCAAP, a multilateral
agreement on regional cooperation to combat piracy, was established under
Japan's initiative and came into force in the autumn of 2006. But the U.S. only
joined it in the autumn of 2014.
Washington's decision to
become a party to the treaty was prompted by China's move to turn the South
China Sea into its "inland sea" by reclaiming vast patches of land in
the Spratly Islands. Beijing has further alarmed the U.S. by indicating its
intention to establish air defense identification zones in the South China Sea
and the Yellow Sea after taking the step in the East China Sea. These
moves by China to challenge the regional order are making its neighbors uneasy
and ruffling U.S. feathers.
The operation of U.S. and Japan
coast guards in the territorial waters of other countries in the South China
Sea will inevitably be subject to tight restrictions. Still, Washington decided
to join the ReCAAP arrangement and expand its maritime security cooperation
with Japan and other allies in the region because it recognized the need to
build a solid "bulwark" against China's expansion.
The U.S. Coast Guard and
the Japan Coast Guard already work together on maritime accidents and other
situations in the Pacific. But in reality, there have not been active and
frequent exchanges between the two organizations.
Under the initiative, the
coast guards will carry out joint maritime drills and exchange senior
officials, as well as help those countries locked in territorial disputes with
China in the South China Sea, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam,
train and improve their own coast guards.
Japan and the U.S. will
provide their expertise in coastal defense to help those Southeast Asian
nations bolster their relatively underdeveloped capabilities for maritime
security and law enforcement. The ultimate goal is to build an effective
coalition to respond to the security threat posed by China's territorial
expansion in the region.
Challenges
ahead
But the efforts by Tokyo and Washington to contain
China's threatening actions are likely to face many challenges.
A former U.S. Department
of Defense official says the U.S. Coast Guard is facing such serious equipment
and staff shortages that it will not be able to widen the scope of its
operations into the South China Sea.
The U.S. Coast Guard has
a long history dating back to 1790, when its predecessor was founded under the
administration of George Washington, the first president of the United
States. It is a powerful and competent armed organization, but it is
smaller than the New York Police Department in terms of manpower and budget.
The U.S. Coast Guard has
to defend the country's long coast lines and carry out search and rescue
operations in vast sea areas with roughly the manpower of Japan's Maritime
Self-Defense Force. Spending cuts by successive U.S. administrations have
left an aging fleet, ill-equipped to deal with new security challenges,
according to a U.S. government source.
Meanwhile, the Japan Coast
Guard also has a staff shortage because of an increase in operations around the
Senkaku Islands, which are under Japan's control but also claimed by China.
Compared with operations
to guard the Senkaku Islands and other Japanese territories, any activity in
the South China Sea will be a far lower priority for the Japan Coast Guard,
whose main missions do not include such support for other countries, a former
Coast Guard official said.
The Japan Coast Guard has
strong historical ties with its Southeast Asian counterparts and can export
unarmed patrol boats there.
But in the Philippines
and many other Southeast Asian countries, Japan has found its assistance to
train coast guards and often ends up in a disappointment because the officers
tend to seek jobs in higher government organizations, said a Japanese government
official.
Despite this and other
tough challenges confronting the plan to expand cooperation, the scope of this
initiative will keep growing in coming years, predicts a U.S. diplomat.
Washington has entered a
new phase with its awareness of the need to take seriously the security threat
posed by China's expansion in the South China Sea, a Japanese government
official said.
These comments reflect
the huge impact China's naval expansion is having on Japan, the U.S. and
Southeast Asia. TOSHIKI YAZAWA, Nikkei staff writer
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