Beijing Defends Sea Claims as Clinton Visits Region

The Japan coast guard handed out a photo that it said shows a Chinese patrol boat, left, cruising near its vessel on Wednesday in waters claimed by Japan near disputed East China Sea islands. (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images) July 11, 2012 

By PATRICK BARTA 

The Wall Street Journal 

China asserted its territorial claims in the Western Pacific on two fronts Wednesday, warning diplomats gathered in Cambodia's capital to respect its claims in the South China Sea and engaging in a standoff with Japanese vessels in the East China Sea. 

Beijing sought to block efforts to resolve long-running tensions over claims in the South China Sea, warning participants in a regional summit attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Phnom Penh that it is "crucial" they leave the issue out of their discussions.

Mrs. Clinton arrived in the Cambodian capital late Wednesday after making a brief but historic trip to the Laotian capital of Vientiane. She is the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Laos since John Foster Dulles in 1955. She met with the communist nation's prime minister, Thongsing Thammavong, and discussed ways of unlocking more investment there as part of Washington's effort to build allies in Southeast Asia to match China's growing influence in the region.

But Mrs. Clinton's Asia tour, which has included stops in Japan, Mongolia and Vietnam, has been clouded by tensions over the waters off China's coast.

In the East China Sea, Chinese patrol vessels on Wednesday entered waters claimed by Japan near islands controlled by Japan and claimed by China and Taiwan, setting off a confrontation with the Japanese coast guard.

The face-off, following days of hostile rhetoric since Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said his government was considering purchasing the privately owned islands, fueled concerns that the island fight will strain burgeoning economic ties between the two Asian powers.

Wednesday's East China Sea drama started around 4 a.m. Tokyo time. A Chinese patrol vessel came within 22 kilometers (14 miles) of the islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, entering what Japan considers its territorial waters. Two other Chinese vessels also appeared, with one entering the territorial waters, according to the Japanese Coast Guard.

The three left within about four hours, after repeated warnings from Coast Guard officials.

"Our vessel is conducting official duties within China's territorial waters," one vessel said in response to Japanese warnings, according to the Coast Guard. "Do not obstruct. Leave the Chinese waters immediately."

Afterwards, spokesmen for both governments faced off. "It is very clear that the Senkaku Islands are Japan's inherent territory both from historical and legal perspectives," said Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Osamu Fujimura. "And in reality, Japan effectively controls them."China spokesman Liu Weimin said in Beijing, "The Diaoyu island and its affiliated islets have been China's inherent territory since ancient times. ... China does not accept Japanese representations over it."

Meanwhile, China is increasingly asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, setting off disputes with other neighbors, notably the Philippines and Vietnam.

The resource-rich South China Sea —which carries around half of the world's total trade—is claimed in whole or part by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, and frictions have intensified lately. In one of the latest dust-ups, Chinese and Philippine ships were locked in a two-month standoff at a disputed area known as the Scarborough Shoal after Philippine authorities tried to arrest Chinese fishermen accused by Manila of illegally harvesting coral in the waters. The ships finally began to withdraw last month after heavy storms made it difficult for them to remain.

The Philippines and other Southeast Asian claimants are hoping to make headway on defusing the sea disputes Thursday, when foreign ministers from Southeast Asia, China and other countries meet at a series of annual summit gatherings sponsored by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh.

Mrs. Clinton on Tuesday told reporters in Hanoi she hoped Asian leaders would work on a code of conduct for activities in the sea to ensure disagreements are resolved amicably.

In a commentary published Wednesday by the state-run Xinhua news agency, China said ministers gathering in Phnom Penh should "be wary" of letting the South China Sea "distract" them, because Asean meetings are "not a proper platform" for discussing the issue.

Rather, they should focus on building mutual trust and cooperation, it said.

"Thus, it is preferable and crucial that the Phnom Penh meetings keep to their agenda and leave South China Sea issues to China and the specific Asean countries concerned," it said.

The statements came a day after similar warnings from a Chinese foreign-ministry spokesman, who at a briefing described the discussions on the South China Sea as "deliberate hype" designed "to interfere with the relationship between China and Asean."

"Certainly, disagreements exist, but we have constantly shown that a common understanding can be reached through peaceful negotiations," said Surin Pitsuwan, Asean's secretary-general. "I am confident that our collective wisdom and shared experiences will help us steer through these difficulties."

Central to the latest debate is an on-again, off-again effort to complete the so-called code of conduct, which Asean leaders envision as a legally binding document that would guide behavior in the sea and establish protocols for resolving future disputes peacefully.

Asian leaders agreed to draft a code a decade ago. But it was never completed, in part because of China's position that disagreements should be settled on a bilateral rather than multilateral basis. Critics of China's policy say the country fears it would be harder to negotiate South China Sea rules with a united Asean—a region of some 600 million people—and wants to isolate the individual nations that have the strongest claims.

Efforts to salvage the code were revived at a series of Asean meetings in Bali last year. Since then, Asean leaders have been working to develop a more comprehensive code and a timeline for finishing it, perhaps as early as later this year, according to people familiar with the matter. But hopes for any progress in Phnom Penh are running low.

"I think this is going to be really bloody, this one," said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, referring to the Phnom Penh summits.

Complicating the situation in the East China Sea, tensions within Japan over the ownership of the private islands may take months to sort out. Japanese officials say Prime Minister Noda was forced into announcing his plan to purchase the islands—even knowing it would raise Beijing's ire—by Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo's combative governor.

Known for his incendiary attitude toward China, Mr. Ishihara had made a surprise proposal in May that his city buy the uninhabited islands, though they lie thousands of miles from the capital. Mr. Ishihara's highly publicized campaign has raised over ¥1.3 billion ($17 million) in donations.

After Mr. Noda's announcement, Mr. Ishihara said Tokyo would first purchase the islands and then sell them to the government, citing the private owners' desire. Thie islands are owned by a Japanese family but the government maintains a lease on them that is renewed annually.

In China's account of the encounter, as reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency, three boats on "routine patrol" approached the islands. Xinhua characterized them as "law-enforcement vessels," citing a seasonal fishing ban China has declared in the East China Sea, and said such patrols have been conducted since 2010. Boats of the same type sailed into the areas Japan considers its territorial waters this past March and in August of last year.

During a major confrontation over the islands in the fall of 2010, China sent in a bigger patrol vessel, able to carry helicopters.

With no resolution of the ownership transfer in sight, some in Japan fear a repeat of that bitter 2010 confrontation, which put a damper on bilateral trade, investment and tourism for many months. Others fear even worse: a landing on one of the islands by Chinese representatives, triggering a violent conflict.

Koji Murata, professor of political science at Doshisha University in Kyoto, said that Mr. Noda, energized by his recent success on a contentious tax increase, now hopes to boost his national-security image by inserting himself into the island issue—but that it's a perilous decision.

"It's easy to nationalize the islands, but how would he provide naval defense?" Mr. Murata said. "It's nationalization with no follow-up plans. I think this is a very precarious situation."

Write to Patrick Barta at patrick.barta@wsj.com