Beijing Propogates Fake News To Block Free Navigation in the South China Sea

The Chinese media is publishing articles and commentaries which read that the movements of western vessels in the SCS and flights in the air space above are acts to provoke Beijing, as they violate its sovereignty. However, to determine any action by any nation in or over the SCS, judgments must be based on a general legal framework, namely UNCLOS 1982

@Kunal_Chonkar

New Delhi: As part of massive disinformation campaign to conceal its aggressive ruddering in the South China Sea (SCS), Beijing has recently started to voice a two-point narrative through its pen sharks. In the past few days, the Chinese modus of reporting and commenting through the ‘South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative’ (SCSPI) and by the newspapers such as the Global Times and the South China Morning Post (SCMP) is attempting to shape two school’s of thoughts. 

Firstly, that the situation in the SCS is ‘calm and peaceful’, and secondly that the vessels and aircraft of western nations are making the regional situation ‘unstable.’

Disseminating and Advocating Fake News

On February 27, the SCMP published an article titled ‘South China Sea: How the US Navy aims to a better home in on targets.’ This article cooked a story of a ‘new military strategy by Washington in the SCS to contain and corner China.’ 

The article detailed out a military drill of the US aircraft carrier group USS Eisenhower, and then quoted Du Wenlong, a Beijing-based researcher from the Chinese Military Science Institute, then copied some opinions of several US naval officers posted on the US Naval Academy news website (USNI News) on February 17. 

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The article also added that ‘the US Army aimed to use soldiers on the land to help multiple countries’ fleets by providing a more accurate guide for long-range missiles, an approach that analysts think could be used in the SCS. 

The title also stressed a military drill at an unknown place but insisted on calling this location ‘Nam Hai’ (South Sea), making readers wonder if this exercise of the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier took place in the SCS and that was the factor that heated up the situation. The article claimed that the alleged military exercise applied NATO standards and was intended to apply in the SCS ‘to hit the target’ which is China.

The truth here is that the exercise of the USS Eisenhower did not take place in the SCS but in the Atlantic Ocean, close to the coast of the state of Florida, as can be seen on the map of the location of the US carriers on February 18 by the USNI. 

With Washington choosing the suburbs of Florida as the place for NATO to conduct exercises and practice communications drills, if anyone got upset first, it would have been Russia. However, Russia did not object because the area was too far from its land, let alone the SCS.

Secondly, the entire exercise was not a strategic operation but only a tactical drill with two new details – firstly was the training of the SEAL commandos to close into targets to direct and lead paths for missile attacks, and secondly it was the exercise of activating NATO’s communications system to allow Washington to interact with its allies.

Victim Card

In addition, the Chinese media considers the movements of western vessels in the SCS and military flights in the air space above as acts to provoke China, as they violate its ‘sovereignty.’ 

To determine any action by any nation in the SCS, judgments must be based on a general legal framework, namely the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). Article 87 of the Convention says that states, whether or not they have access to the sea, have the right to freedom of navigation and overflight.

China is using the nine-dash line statement to ban countries from movements in the SCS – a statement, which was rejected in the ruling in July 2016 by the International Arbitral Tribunal.

On September 16, 2020, following several countries in the region along with the United States, three countries, namely, Germany, Britain, and France sent notes to the UN Secretary General, emphasizing that Beijing’s declaration on its historical right over the SCS. They pressed that China’s declaration was not in compliance with international law and the provisions of UNCLOS 1982.

From disseminating notes to deploying ships to pursuing its maritime and aviation interests and enforcing international laws, are all part of strategic procedures for every country. However, for China, it has used those steps to accuse European countries of forming an allegiance with the United States to lock horns with China. This is the ploy to turn the reality of China is provoking the world into the fiction that reads Beijing is being bullied by other countries.

Europe Defending Legitimate Interests in SCS

On March 1, the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) launched a month-long exercise in the SCS, meanwhile Beijing was trying to assert that the situation in the region is peaceful. Although there was no specific mention, the information on PLA’s exercise was related to the recent operations of ships of Washington and its allies such as Canada and Europe in the waters of the SCS.

Western nations have a legitimate interests and good reasons to take actions in the SCS, especially to ensure the need to comply with international law, and UNCLOS 1982. European nations or Canada have agreed or made their own judgment that China’s bullying acts, intimidation, and its showing off of military might are threatening their interests to maintain a peaceful and stable sea. It is cardinal to raise the awareness that the SCS is an international space and that the activities of countries in the sea are merely exercising their legal rights and preventing China’s illegal occupation of the waters.