China’s actions in S China Sea are expression of sovereignty: Scholar

China’s defensive installations in the South China Sea are an expression of its sovereignty, and no international body has jurisdiction over China’s sovereign territory, says Dennis Etler, an American political analyst who has a decades-long interest in international affairs.

Etler, a former professor of Anthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday while commenting on US Defense Secretary James Mattis’ visit to China.

On Wednesday, Mattis met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing amid increasing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the South China Sea and President Donald Trump’s trade policy. 

China won't give up 'one inch' of territory

Mattis also met with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday night following his talks with other senior officials as part of his trip to Asia that will include visits to regional allies Seoul and Tokyo.

China is committed to peace but will not give up "even one inch" of territory, President Xi said following the meeting.

"We cannot lose even one inch of the territory left behind by our ancestors," Xi said, according to Chinese state media. "What is other people's we do not want at all."

The United States has often criticized China's actions in the South China Sea, accusing it of militarizing the area by building up facilities on artificial islands.

“Unlike US military bases in the Asian-Pacific region which are the fruits of war, China’s defensive installations in the South China Sea are an expression of its sovereignty,” Professor Etler told Press TV.  

“China claimed sovereignty over the South China Sea long before the current nations which challenge it even existed. When China staked its claim in the 19th century, based on its historic occupation of the territory, Vietnam was a French colony, Malaysia and Brunei were British colonies, and the Philippines was a Spanish colony. Later Japan took over Taiwan, a province of China, and all the countries mentioned above, occupying the South China Sea as well,” he added.  

“During WW2 the allies expressly stated in communiqués and statements that after the defeat of Japan all of the territory it occupied in the South China Sea would revert back to Chinese sovereignty. At that time China was ruled by the Nationalist Party (KMT) which retreated to Taiwan after the Communists established the People’s Republic on the mainland. As a result the Republic of China on Taiwan has the same claim to the South China Sea as does the PRC,” the analyst stated.

China won’t accept aggressive US actions

“Given the above incontrovertible facts demonstrating China’s sovereignty over the South China Sea any ruling made by an international body over how claims to the region should be adjudicated are seen by China as null and void. No international body has jurisdiction over China’s sovereign territory,” Etler said.  

“The above review is necessary to make clear that China will not budge on its claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea, nor will it acquiesce to aggressive US actions in the region. China has made assurances that it will respect internationally recognized rights of all nations to freedom of navigation through the seas. China has not restricted, nor will it, any nation’s shipping over South China Sea routes. It would not be in its national interest to do so. But it is in China’s vital national interest to protect its own sea routes through territory that it has sovereignty over,” the commentator noted.  

“During the visit of US Defense Secretary Mattis to Beijing, China’s position will be made abundantly clear. It is non-negotiable. The US better learn the limitation of its power. The situation on the ground in the South China Sea will not change. China has established its rightful presence there and it will not retreat,” he said.

“Defending one’s own territory cannot be construed as militarizing it. Has the US ‘militarized’ Hawaii which it annexed or Guam which it conquered? Without doubt the US would not accept such a characterization. Neither does China accept the idea that it has militarized its own sovereign territory. Maybe the Chinese will be able to drum this fact into Mattis’ ear. It’s unlikely however since the US is deaf to anything but its own voice,” he concluded.

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