China's consistent maritime policy and growing practical cooperation with ASEAN countries have successfully leveraged both firm measures and collaborative diplomacy to ensure the South China Sea remains a corridor of peace, trade and shared prosperity, according to experts on the South China Sea issue.
Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the illegal "arbitral ruling" in the "South China Sea arbitration" case. The 2016 "South China Sea arbitration" was unilaterally initiated by the Philippines and trumpeted by Japan under the manipulation of the United States.
Over the past decade, in response to continuous provocations by the Philippines, China has institutionalized its rights-protection operations.
On the one hand, China has published a series of official documents detailing the historical context and legal basis of its claims and clearly articulated its indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and adjacent waters, forcefully refuting false narratives.
On the other hand, China has conducted regular maritime patrols and law enforcement operations, while carrying out reef construction and ecological protection work.
The country has released multiple environmental assessment reports on Ren'ai Jiao, Xianbin Jiao, and Huangyan Dao, which have unveiled with scientific data that the ecological damage in the South China Sea was due to the Philippines' activities.
In response to the so-called "Maritime Zones Act" and the "Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act" rolled out by the Philippines, China issued a statement announcing the baselines of the territorial sea adjacent to Huangyan Dao to clearly demonstrated China's sovereignty over Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea. Besides, China has also established a national-level nature reserve on Huangyan Dao, which marked China's management of the South China Sea has entered a new phase.
In addition, China has also imposed sanctions on Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and his relatives over his repeated remarks harming China's interests.
Reviewing the past decade, Ding Duo, director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, emphasized the long-term stability, continuity and consistency of China's approach to the region.
"China's rights-protection efforts in the South China Sea over the past 10 years have shown clearly that it has demonstrated long-term stability, continuity and consistency in handling the South China Sea issue and in its policies regarding the South China Sea. Our claims to rights have not changed. Our positions on handling maritime disputes and issues have remained the same and will continue to be so. In this way, our efforts to safeguard our rights have been continuously strengthened, and the effectiveness has become increasingly evident. This also reflects the significant achievements we have made in using both hard and soft power to counteract the influence of the illegal 'ruling' in the 'South China Sea arbitration' case," said Ding.
Beyond maritime defense, China emphasizes its goal of building a "sea of peace, friendship and cooperation". To realize this goal, China has signed and promoted the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and kept managing disputes with relevant countries through dialogues and consultations.
At present, China and ASEAN countries are accelerating the consultations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, and actively carrying out pragmatic cooperation at the sea.
Through these joint efforts, the situation in the South China Sea remains stable, with freedom of navigation and overflight effectively guaranteed.
Yang Xiao, a research fellow at the Institute of Peaceful Development under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, highlighted practical cooperation with neighboring nations.
"We have been working with neighboring countries in the South China Sea to promote cooperation in safeguarding the region. For example, our poverty alleviation and maritime cooperation with Indonesia, as well as our joint fish-fry release and fishery management with Vietnam. These are all, in fact, ways of leading neighboring countries to work together with us to protect the South China Sea. The South China Sea is a vital trade route between China and ASEAN countries and a platform for cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. In fact, the more important aspects of the South China Sea are cooperation, development and prosperity. However, a small number of those who provoke tensions in the South China Sea and try to make an issue of disputes have gone too far and made too much noise. But now, we need to present the better aspects to the international community," said Yang.
China's South China Sea policies show consistency, strengthen regional cooperation: experts
