U.S. Navy States China's Navy Less Aggressive in 2011

It was reported today in BBC news that the United States has deemed China’s navy to be less offensive in 2011. Seen as a very positive step, U.S. officials are attributing this change to military talks between the U.S. and China where both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates “made very strong statements” in supporting non-Chinese competitors in the South China and East China Sea.

Admiral Willard stated undoubtedly that China "aims to have great influence over that maritime space, and especially over the contested areas that they've laid claim to.” Among other avenues, that goal is pursued by the remodeling of an old Soviet aircraft, but will not be ready until extensive tests are completed.

However, Adm. Willard and the Navy say that their regional partners perceive China’s diminished aggression in these waters in the midst of what has otherwise been a remarkable growth in their military capability as significant."

I found this article interesting because it is meant to show China’s steps toward more responsible and less aggressive behavior militarily. However, China’s change in attitude is not attributed to the Chinese military, but the heavy hitters from the United States. The tone of the article suggests to me that China’s older sibling, the United States, didn’t like the way China was behaving so it gave it a slap on the wrist.

Adm. Willard also makes it no secret that the U.S. knows China’s plan to exert control over these seas, which happen to be deemed an Exclusive Economic Zone by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and that China’s scaling back of aggression is a “symbol” –suggesting there is no real value to this behavior other than the effect of its façade. The map below also doesn’t inspire much confidence in China’s actions. Without a title explaining it’s purpose, it simply shows China’s claimed territorial waters outlined in red dash marks, the UNCLOS Exclusive Economic Zone in blue, and disputed islands in gray. China’s claimed territory clearly surrounds all the disputed islands, which, by the way, are never explicitly mentioned in any part of the actual article. Placing this map at the end of the article, along with the final implication that the U.S. Navy’s security umbrella is the only reason most Asian states have been able to “freely develop trading economies,” does not inspire the reader to have much confidence in China’s “symbolic” gesture.