May 22, 2014 12:00 am

China tests US mettle in South China Sea

GAKU SHIMADA, Nikkei staff writer

BEIJING -- China's construction of an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam is the latest in a series of moves to tighten its grip on disputed territories in the South China Sea.

     The actions show that President Xi Jinping's leadership is trying to test America's mettle while appeasing the hawks in Beijing, according to sources close to China's Communist Party and government.

These photos show Chinese land-reclamation work on the disputed Johnson South Reef. The arrows indicate north. The project is one of the latest in a string of moves by the country to assert greater control in the region. Courtesy of the Philippine Foreign Ministry © Kyodo

     Beijing is also reclaiming land on a reef in the Spratly Islands, which are also claimed by the Philippines, and building what looks to be an airstrip there. Any Chinese construction activity on Johnson South Reef is a "matter entirely within the scope of China's sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said May 14.

"Serious concerns"

The remarks came just days after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a joint statement expressing "serious concerns" over the worsening territorial disputes in the region. Beijing holds that almost the entire South China Sea is under its jurisdiction. The area contains abundant reserves of oil and gas. It also serves as a shipping lane for oil from the Middle East, making it a lifeline for energy-hungry China.

     Why is Beijing taking such a hard-line stance now? The answer can be traced to the U.S.

     President Barack Obama tried to rein in China during his Asian tour last month, but he took pains not to upset China too much. Chinese newspapers reported prominently on Obama's lack of a clear stance on the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands, the group of islets in the East China Sea administered by Japan but claimed by China.

     Standing alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on April 24, Obama said that while the islands are covered by the bilateral security treaty, "We don't take a position on final sovereignty determinations with respect to Senkakus." Such equivocal language must have emboldened China.

     A senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official said Washington's influence abroad has waned, citing its reluctance to become militarily involved in Syria and Ukraine. The official concluded that "the U.S. must be trying to avoid direct confrontation with China."

     Beijing's recent actions can be seen as sounding out whether Washington will limit itself to words or respond militarily, such as by sending in warships. A tepid reaction may spur China to set up an air defense identification zone over the South China Sea as it has previously hinted, using friction in the region as an excuse.

     James Steinberg, deputy secretary of state in the first Obama administration, on May 14 said it was important for the U.S. to set a clear "red line" to prevent any miscalculation by Beijing. "It is better for Sino-U.S. relations to be clear where our red lines are and what we're serious about, because conflict can come from misunderstandings or misjudgments," Steinberg said in an interview in Tokyo.

Philippine showdown?

The influential hawks within the Chinese leadership are another factor behind the new hard-line stance in the South China Sea. China has been working to patch up relations with Tokyo, with top officials holding talks with leaders in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. This has forced the hawks to shift their focus from Japan to the South China Sea, a Communist Party source said.

     "A localized conflict with either Japan, the Philippines or Vietnam is a realistic scenario," according to a leading hawk in the Chinese military. But a battle with Japan would spiral out of control, and Beijing would prefer to avoid frictions with Vietnam, with which it shares a land border and close economic ties, leaving the hard-liners to focus on the Philippines, this person said.

     The Chinese leadership has instructed local media to be cautious in its reporting on the recent confrontations between Vietnamese and Chinese ships, but it issued no such directives regarding the Philippines, according to a source at one of the news organizations.