Ocean Harmony not wishful thinking
- Source: The Global Times
- [07:41 April 23 2009]
- Comments
By Hao Junshi in Qingdao and Qiu Wei in Beijing
As China's four-day maritime celebration concludes today with a parade of warships, the nation's vision of a harmonious ocean has drawn the attention of military enthusiasts home and abroad.
And some say it will take more than mere words and goodwill to turn that dream into a reality, especially when China’s Navy starts making its presence known on the high seas.
The international naval parade, the first of its kind in the People’s Liberation Army’s history, features 21 vessels from 14 navies and marks the 60th anniversary of the PLA’s Navy.
Destroyers and frigates from China’s three fleets are set to participate off the port of Qingdao, and a rare appearance by several nuclear submarines is also expected, according to a military source who wished to remain anonymous.
“It’s no secret that China has nuclear submarines, which are key to safeguarding our country’s national security,” said PLA Navy Deputy Commander Ding Yiping yesterday.
Security has been tightened in the run-up to the ceremony. Roads have been closed and more police can be seen in the streets of Qingdao. Cars from other cities are also being carefully inspected, according to Qingdao resident Li Guoli.
Harmony: a buzzword
As the four-day event falls under the theme of “Harmonious Seas,” harmony has become a buzzword at seminars, appearing frequently in the speeches of naval officers.
“The visiting navy leaders have agreed with China’s concept of harmony in the ocean and reached a consensus on building a harmonious, just and free ocean,” Ding said yesterday.
Chinese Naval Commander Admiral Wu Shengli mentioned “ocean harmony” several times Monday when he marked the start of the event.
The call for peaceful seagoing coincided with an article published in the latest issue of “China Security,” a US policy journal.
“China and the US now share many security considerations,” Peter A. Dutton, an associate professor of strategic research at the China Maritime Studies Institute of the US Naval War College, said in his article “Charting a Course: US-China Cooperation at Sea.”
“China and the US may never converge in their perspectives concerning international law, but with coordinated actions that respect each other’s sovereignty, and which are based on mutual interest and a relationship between equals, the two nations can work together toward the common goal of stability at sea,” his article says.
Before China’s announcement in December that the PLA Navy would join the anti-piracy efforts, China had avoided cooperative maritime security efforts with other countries, such as the US, Dutton said.
China is increasingly becoming a global maritime state with strategic concerns similar to those of other major maritime powers, Dutton said.
Admiral Gary Roughead, the US chief of naval operations, told Xinhua yesterday that he believed “any problem can be addressed cooperatively,” without elaborating what problems might occur.
The term “problem” caught the attention of David Finkelstein, vice president of the Alexandria, Virginia-based Center for Naval Analyses (China Studies), who told the Global Times yesterday that he was happy to see cooperation between the Chinese and US navies.
“Actually, there’s no specific problem between China and the US. On the contrary, both of them face the same international problems, such as the Somali pirate issue,” Finkelstein said.
Finkelstein noted that the PLA Navy will come in contact with many foreign navies on the high seas. “This will be a new experience for the PLA Navy, and coordinating and communicating with foreign vessels will be essential,” he said. “Consequently, good navy-to-navy relations will become more important between China and other nations.”
He also cited a need to revisit the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) established between the US and China a few years ago to ensure the two navies can operate safely in proximity to each other.
But Finkelstein also noted that there is still a possibility that conflict might arise, such as the confrontation between a US Naval survey vessel and five Chinese ships in the South China Sea last month.
In terms of the concept of a harmonious ocean, Finkelstein said that he didn't quite know what that term meant. However, he emphasized that it was a “positive and friendly signal” that China sent out to the world.
Goodwill with capability
But as some US scholars voiced their optimism on the common goal of stability at sea, some of their Chinese counterparts cautioned that mere goodwill is not necessarily a guarantee for a harmonious ocean.
Dai Xu, a Chinese Air Force Colonel and military strategist, cautioned yesterday when speaking to the Global Times that “mere goodwill without enough capability can’t achieve a harmonious ocean.”
“The goodwill should combine with strength,” he stressed. “Otherwise, the ocean harmony is just a dream, and the world won’t return the harmony to China.
“The US is in control of all the major sea routes in the world, but China owns none of them. It is better to say that the US feels the threat to its hegemony because of an ever-stronger Chinese navy.
“But China is not posing any threat to the world.”
US-based Time magazine carried an article Tuesday stating that American hardliners insist that the Chinese are seeking to drive the US military out of the Pacific, making it Beijing’s “lake” rather than what it has been for decades, an American “pond.”
An Baijie and Liang Chen also contributed to this story.