Debunking a New Chinese Talking Point Against U.S. Policy in the South China Sea

China has unveiled a new talking point against U.S. policy in the South China Sea. Recently, the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam convened its 12th annual South China Sea International Conference, during which a Chinese law professor criticized U.S. policy in the South China Sea. In particular, she attempted to compare policy statements on the U.S. government’s position on the South China Sea issued by the U.S. Department of State, the first in 1995 and the others in June and July 2020. She then made a critical conclusion, “We see that the position of the U.S., to take no position on the territorial issues, has been derogated.”

Some observers might dismiss this criticism as merely the views of one Chinese scholar sharing her personal opinion, but the public record suggests otherwise. Immediately after the United States issued its July 2020 South China Sea policy statement, which reiterated, clarified, amplified and strengthened U.S. policy, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman made a similar point during a daily press briefing, claiming the U.S. statement “breaks the US government’s public commitment of not taking a position on the South China Sea sovereignty issue.” Five days later, another Chinese legal scholar accused the United States of changing “from a neutral third party to an active supporter of part [sic] of the claimants against another.” Yet another Chinese legal scholar posted online a lengthy analysis of U.S. South China Sea policy statements over the past 25 years and argued that the U.S. government now “take sides” in the sovereignty issue. With official and unofficial Chinese voices recently singing in such harmony, one could reasonably conclude that this is a new Chinese talking point in the battle of South China Sea narratives.

But this new Chinese talking point can and should be scrutinized on several levels. Below is an analysis of the main aspects of this talking point. First, this analysis will assume arguendo that the underlying premise of this new Chinese talking point is true and then briefly identify three implications of the talking point and quickly discredit each of those implications. Second, this analysis will focus on the core assertion of this new Chinese talking point and refute its substance. Ultimately, this analysis will show that this new Chinese talking point is false and should be dismissed as such because the U.S. has not, in fact, abandoned its position on sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea.

Discrediting the Implications of the New Chinese Talking Point

Initially, assume for the sake of argument that the substantive assertion of this new Chinese talking point is true—that is, the United States is now taking a side in the sovereignty disputes among the South China Sea claimant states. This talking point contains three implications, each of which is not credible.

First, the talking point implies that the U.S. government is somehow violating one of its international obligations with its July 2020 South China Sea policy statement. But law is law, and policy is policy. Thus, if the U.S. government or any other nation-state’s government deliberately decides to change its foreign policy on a particular matter and that policy change does not violate any of the state’s existing legal obligations, it fully possesses the discretion to do so. Any insinuation by this new Chinese talking point that the United States has disobeyed a rule or broken an obligation with its South China Sea policy is false. Moreover, through China’s “cabbage strategy” and “salami-slicing tactics,” China has visibly imposed a more aggressive policy in the South China Sea toward other claimant-states and toward the United States over the past 25 years. In essence, China implies that the United States must not change its policy, even if China chooses to change its policy—which it has.

Second, the talking point implies that the United States is required to remain neutral among the South China Sea claimant-states in their competing territorial and maritime claims. But as a matter of international law, sovereign states are not generally prohibited from aligning with other sovereign states in their international relations. Moreover, no sovereign state—including the United States, China or any other state—is obligated as a matter of international law to refrain from favoring one claimant-state over another claimant-state in their disputes over competing territorial or maritime claims to which that state is not a party. Thus, if the United States adopted a policy taking a side in competing claims in the South China Sea, such policy would be lawful under international law.

Third, it also implies that China is adamant that the United States not take any side in South China Sea disputes, as a matter of principle. But consider the following hypothetical scenario: What if the leaders of the U.S. government woke up tomorrow and decided to adopt a policy that definitively takes a side in the South China Sea disputes—and that side happened to be China’s side? Would Beijing decline or criticize such a new U.S. policy? During the days leading up to the South China Sea arbitration ruling in July 2016, China’s official state-run news agency Xinhua published an article proudly announcing, “Many African countries have recently voiced their support to China over the Philippine-initiated arbitration on the South China Sea dispute[.]” For a moment, assume the veracity of that previous Xinhua article. If the United States similarly “voiced support to China” in the South China Sea disputes tomorrow, one could reasonably predict that every Chinese spokesperson, state-run news outlet and proxy would immediately wave that U.S. endorsement in the faces of the other claimant-states and to the rest of the world. Thus, while the new Chinese talking point implies that China wants the United States not to take any side in the South China Sea disputes, it actually wants the United States not to take a side other than China’s side in these disputes.

Refuting the Substance of the New Chinese Talking Point

Taken together, the above implications would discredit the new Chinese talking point. But what really makes the talking point flawed is that its core assertion is false. Has the United States abandoned a long-standing element of its South China Sea policy and is now, in fact, taking a side in the competing claims among the South China Sea claimant-states? The short answer is no, but the explanation for that short answer requires a more detailed analysis.

Consider what exactly this new Chinese talking point says on the issue of sovereignty. The Chinese scholar speaking recently in Vietnam quoted part of the 1995 U.S. statement: “The United States takes no position on the legal merits of the competing claims to sovereignty over the various islands, reefs, atolls, and cays in the South China Sea.” That same scholar then quoted from a U.S. diplomatic note issued a few weeks before the July 2020 policy statement, which Become a supporter of IT Security News and help us remove the ads.