Chasm in South China Sea

The controversy about China’s juridical claim over the 3.5-million sq.km South China Sea  is hotting up, following US defence secretary Leon Panetta’s visit to India, earlier this week.

Termed as the ‘US pivot to Asia’ in which Panetta wanted India to play ‘a lynchpin’, the important Asia-Pacific region will witness the kick-start of the first-ever India-Japan naval combat exercise, Jimex-12, off Tokyo, today (June 9) to the discomfort of China.

The US-China relations over the Chinese territorial claim of the South China Sea have substantially deteriorated since last year. At stake is the free passage of one-third of the world shipping tonnage through its waters.

Apart from China the littoral states in the region include Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.

The all-important shipping route through the Strait of Malacca too is part of the South China Sea. Both India and Japan are down-playing the joint military exercise, in which India has fielded four warships and Japan deployed two destroyers, naval patrol aircraft and helicopters.

China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the international waters of the South China Sea is of serious concern not only of the US, but also of other countries in the region, including India and Japan.