China uses COVID-19 crisis to expand control of South China Sea

As the world deals with the catastrophes created by COVID-19, Beijing has moved to solidify its dubious historical claims over the disputed South China Sea, writes James Morrow.

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Is China using the distraction caused by the coronavirus crisis to strengthen its grip on the disputed South China Sea?

It sure looks like it.

Last weekend, while the rest of the world was dealing with the twin health and economic catastrophes created by China’s failure to contain COVID-19, Beijing’s State Council – the country’s top administrative body – declared two new “administrative districts” over large portions over the disputed waters, giving it further control over the region.

The move further increases the tensions over the South China Sea and ups the ante in China’s bid to control the vital sea lanes, further challenging the territorial claims of the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Activists in Manila protesting last year after a Chinese vessel collided with a Philippine fishing boat which sank in the disputed South China Sea, sparking outrage. Picture: AFP

It also raises concerns that China may be seeking to steal a march on the West to further solidify its dubious historical claims to the body of water while Donald Trump and other world leaders are distracted by the coronavirus.

For a number of years China has been constructing artificial islands, airstrips, and other military installations in the South China Sea, while condemning “Freedom of Navigation” exercises by the US and other naval powers in the region.

On Monday Vietnam vigorously protested China’s move, saying “the establishment of the so-called Sansha City (one of the two administrative regions) and related activities seriously violate Vietnam’s sovereignty”.

A reef in the disputed Spratly Islands on the South China Sea. The US has expressed concerns China is hampering other countries' oil and gas activities in the South China Sea and accused Beijing of acting like a bully. Picture: AFP

This condemnation comes just weeks after Vietnam officially complained about one of its fishing boats being rammed by a Chinese coast guard ship near the South China Sea’s Paracel Islands.

Meanwhile this week Malaysia also reported that a Chinese survey ship had been approaching Malaysian territorial waters and “tagging” an exploration vessel owned by Malaysia’s state-owned oil company.

Despite the territorial claims of its neighbours, China has long claimed sovereignty over around 80 per cent of the South China Sea, one of the world’s most important strategic bodies of water.

In 2016 China lost a legal dispute with the Philippines over its claims to portions of the area, but officials in Beijing dismissed the ruling as “nothing more than a piece of paper”.

In a speech last year in Hanoi, Scott Morrison did not go so far as to directly call out Beijing’s military blustering in the South China Sea, but instead called for an “open, inclusive, and prosperous Indo-Pacific neighbourhood”.