(Image source from: news.usni.org)
Uncover the cover of the Covid-19 outbreak; China has been working consistently into an aggressive expansionism both in the South China sea as well as the Indian Ocean region. The same has raised quite a bit of concern among India and US, apart from a few of the neighbouring nations of the country.
China renamed over 80 geographical features in the South China sea which include 25 islands and reefs and 55 undersea geographic entities. This has been alarming the fact that China is likely establishing its sovereignty over fewer parts of the South China Sea which were covered by 9-dash line and were countered as illegal.
The islands that were listed included Sanzhizai, a part of Yongxing island, Hainan Province, to name a few.
Even with the looming threat of the pandemic, nothing has stopped China from pursuing some of their long term goals, this being one of them.
Some of the Indian officials condemned the double standards that China has been showcasing during these times of crisis with their aggressive posture and processes that they are leveraging, especially towards the smaller and weaker neighbours of the country including Taiwan, Tibet etc.
These reports arrive three days later after the reports came in that a few Chinese ships have sank a Vietnamese ship three days after they protested against China’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea to the UN.
This brutal act from China has triggered a mass of protested hailing from Philippines to the US.
Manila, the capital of Philippines, issued a statement against China stating that they have experienced something similar that has led them to lose the trust and friendship that was once instilled between the two nations.
Even the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo raised these acts of “bullying” from China with the activities in the South China Sea as a distraction from the efforts that the entire world is putting in to fight the pandemic.
The Philippines has already lodged two protests against China over the consistent violation of the international law and also for their sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.
Even Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi has lodged protests against China when they found Chinese troops sending ships near their territory around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
In retaliation, US warship has already sailed through the Taiwan Straits for the second time this month. They even sailed through Malaysia to deter the Chinese ships that has been consistently intimidating an oil vessel in Malaysia.
The crisis that has been unfolding over the South China Sea does have direct implications on India. The first factor is that the Chinese military troops are in close proximity to the Indian Ocean Region for targeting some of the smaller neighbouring countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, both of which have economic ties with India.
The expansion of China’s presence, particularly around the eastern Indian Ocean region can prove fatal. This is also likely to increase the economic and strategic footprint of China in the Indian Ocean with the deep sea operations of China.
In short, the experts suggest that once China gains a firm grip and control over the South China Sea, the same is going to use more military power to then control the eastern Indian Ocean.
By Somapika Dutta
