China is expected to convey in detail its perception about disputed maritime boundaries in the South China Sea during the visit of a top military official who left Beijing on Wednesday for Pakistan and India.
General Fan Changlong, Vice-Chairman of China’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) is accompanied with Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and Zhu Fuxi, political commissar of the PLA Chengdu Military Area Command (MAC).
The presence of Admiral Sun in the delegation is widely seen as a pointer that the South China Sea dispute — highlighted recently by a U.S. naval patrol within 12 nautical miles of the Zhubi Reef, over which China exercises sovereignty — is likely to be one of the focal points, when talks get under way in New Delhi. China Military Online, a website run by the PLA, pointed out that Admiral Sun was part of the entourage of President Xi Jinping during his recent visit to Vietnam.
The website observed that Admiral Sun, has on several occasions, been an exponent of China’s stance on the South China Sea disputes. Beijing’s position that the U-shaped nine-dash-line defines its boundaries in the South China Sea has been contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines and Brunei.
India has been gradually amplifying its pitch on the South China Sea issue. Speaking earlier this month at a ASEAN security conference in Kuala Lumpur, defence minister Manohar Parrikar backed the legitimacy of freedom of navigation concerns in the South China Sea — a pet theme of the United States — but fused it with an early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC), of which China has been a strong advocate.
The article quoting a military officer observed that Admiral Sun “is responsible for the military’s foreign affairs, so he is often in the delegation of high-level foreign visits”.
His position as a naval officer “has advantages when it comes to maritime issues”. It added that the Chinese Navy has carried out escort missions in the Indian Ocean in recent years and its communication with Pakistan and India has increased.
The write-up stressed that Gen. Fan’s visit is part of escalating military diplomacy by the PLA in “surrounding countries.”
On Tuesday, Wu Shengli, a CMC member and commander of the PLA Navy, left Beijing on an official visit to Malaysia, Indonesia and Maldives, where the South China Sea issue is expected to feature on the agenda.
“He might discuss with relevant countries about the South China Sea issue, and will urge them to properly handle and manage maritime disputes without affecting the bilateral friendly cooperation,” said Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute. The presence of Zhu Fuxi in the delegation signals that enhancing stability on the borders is likely to be among the talking points in New Delhi. During last month’s Sino-Indian counterterrorism exercise in Kunming, military commanders from the two countries decided to step up humanitarian relief and disaster management, in view of recent earthquake in Nepal and in anticipation of possible joint collaboration that may be required along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), whose segments fall within a vulnerable seismic zone.
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