China must shift security focus to the sea
- By Han Xudong
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 2, 2012
China and its neighboring countries' disputes over maritime rights and interests are increasingly becoming a top concern in the Chinese public, as its maritime security is facing growing threats from those countries. In fact, it is rooted in our lack of strong maritime safety culture.
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Explosive spectacle [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn] |
China has a policymaking culture that prioritizes its territorial security on land. Most Chinese people know that China has 9.6 million square kilometers of land area. However, only very few know that it also has 2.997 million square kilometers of territorial sea.
In ancient China, most military threats came over land from the country's northern and western fronts, while invasions of its southern and eastern coastal areas from sea did not occur until the Qing Dynasty. Because of this, China has established a strong sense of protection of its land borders and farmlands. The lack of focus on security at sea is the reason that China was put in a weak position and could not even fight back when assaulted by colonial powers in modern times. Still, with a culture of focusing mainly on land safety rather than marine safety, our naval power is still underdeveloped so far.
In order to address this weakness and the disputes stemming from it, China should promote a shift from a culture of prioritizing land safety over security at sea. Since the introduction of its reform and opening up policy in 1978, China has published a great variety of books regarding territorial aggression the country had been a victim of, and most of the books record invasions by foreign powers of the Chinese mainland. However, there have been very few books on such invasions of China's islands and cases where its marine rights were infringed upon.
China is a huge country on land as well as at sea. However, focusing only on land area is not appropriate with the current development of China, nor is it good for protecting China's interests. The 21st century is the century of the oceans. All big countries are promoting their powers at sea. If we want to win the competition, it is urgent for us to build a culture of security at sea.
At present, China' economy has turned to one oriented by its exports, which is a kind of a marine economy. The development of its overseas interests and marine economy cannot be protected without the support of a culture and powerful means to ensure its marine safety. China's security loopholes at the moment are mainly from the ocean, which will force us to shift the focus of our security culture.
China's maritime safety culture should be characterized by "Diplomacy before Military." Nowadays, China has the most disputes with neighboring countries in its maritime rights and interests. Meanwhile, it is becoming increasingly likely that the U.S. - with its "pivot" to Asia and its desire to be a signatory state in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - will interfere in the disputes between China and its neighboring countries over their territories at sea.
In today's world, using non-military methods to resolve disputes has become the standard in foreign diplomacy. While the support of a strong military continues to be necessary, civilized dialogues should be the first choice in resolving disputes. In fact, it is a correct strategy according to China's experiences of protecting its marine interests in recent years.
As maritime safety is related to the prosperity of China, the country needs to accelerate establishing a culture for its marine security immediately.
The author is the professor of PLA National Defense University.
(This article was first published in Chinese and translated by Lu Na.)
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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