Overriding a wave of anger following an award by an international tribunal on the South China Sea (SCS) that did not go in its favour, Beijing on Friday opened several diplomatic channels at once, covering Japan and Vietnam, preceded by imminent talks with the Philippines.
The Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang led the surge of diplomatic activism from Beijing. In Ulan Bator, where he had gone to participate in the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM), Mr. Li met with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the Japanese had sought the meeting.
But a report by Kyodo, the flagship Japanese news agency, stressed that it was the Japanese Prime Minister who occupied the high-ground during the parleys. “Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that a rules-based international order must be respected, Kyodo said, quoting a senior Japanese official.
However, a version in the Xinhua news agency, widely at variance with the Kyodo report, asserted that it was Mr. Li, who told his Japanese counterpart that since Tokyo is not directly involved in the SCS issue, it should "exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering" in the issue. But he also called for the “step-by-step” resumption of talks between the two countries, which are bonded by strong economic ties.
Nevertheless, analysts say that the meeting is of high significance after a previous statement by the Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida on the SCS award by the tribunal established by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague, had incensed Beijing. "Japan strongly expects that the parties' compliance with this award,” Mr. Kishida had asserted. But that did not go down well in China. Beijing has firmly rejected the tribunal’s ruling, supported by Tokyo and Washington, which invalidates the legality of nine-dash line that demarcates Beijing’s claim to more than 85 per cent of the SCS.
Mr. Li also met Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, which also hotly disputes China’s claims in the SCS.
Besides, China, on Friday, welcomed the statement by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, expressing willingness to begin talks with Beijing. "The door to settling the issue through dialogue and negotiation has never been closed," said spokesperson Lu Kang at a daily press briefing.
Despite official statements, there were no signs that hard emotions triggered by the ruling had spilled into the streets, with the Philippines as the target. In Beijing, there were no street demonstrations or any visible signs of protests outside the Philippine embassy. Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, had also not
erupted into a mood nationalist righteousness after the award.
For instance, one, among the several postings, pursuing a nationalist line, did call the South China Sea arbitration as “nothing but an international farce plotted by the United States, Japan and Philippines”. But, another, more circumspect in content, pointed out that it is power profile of nation-states, which speak louder than claims rooted in history. “There is no right and wrong when it comes to territorial issue, and it is meaningless to speak about history.
The key is who actually occupied the land and who has strength and power to own it,” the post observed.
Yet, anger, against the ruling, though not allowed to boil over, continued to simmer. A Xinhua commentary listed several points, questioning the credibility of the five-member tribunal. It asserted that four out of the five arbitrators were appointed by Shunji Yanai, a Japanese official, close to Prime Minister Abe. “[Mr.] Yanai's political leanings rules out the possibility of a fair judgment,” observed the article.
The write-up stressed that “money was involved,” in this arbitration, amplifying its claim by pointing out that “the five arbitrators were paid by the Philippines, and possibly even by others to take on the case”.
Amid the ruling, the Chinese side continued to go ahead with a show of strength. Two civilian planes on Wednesday landed at the two reefs in the Spratly archipelago — the Subi Reef, just 26 km from the
Thitu Island occupied by the Philippines and Mischief Reef. The Mischief reef in is 250 km west of the Palawan island, also in the Philippines. The tribunal at The Hague had ruled in favour of Philippines on the both the contested reefs.
The website of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said that in tune with China’s “determination and ability to safeguard its sovereignty in the SCS,” a new destroyer Yinchuan, has been commissioned in the PLA navy. It is likely to subsequently join the battle group, led by the new aircraft carrier, which was currently under construction.
