China needs to clarify its maritime intentions

Being open about its intentions is the best way for China to ease the minds of those worried about its growing might. A lack of transparency amid a marked naval buildup and greater assertiveness over territorial disputes in the East and South China seas has raised tensions and prompted nationalism and military buying sprees. President Xi Jinping's recent remarks that the nation will increase its capabilities to protect maritime rights while seeking common interests with neighbours moves in the right direction. As helpful as such talk is, though, there has to be considerably greater detailing of Beijing's position if the anxiety is to be allayed.

Xi's comments to a Politburo meeting reiterated a position laid out at the Communist party's 18th congress in November that China aimed to become a maritime power. He said that legitimate rights and core interests would never be abandoned, but also promised negotiations and peaceful means to settle disputes. A policy of "carrying out joint development for areas over which China has sovereign rights" would be adhered to. It is a sensible way of moving beyond conflicts so that marine resources can be tapped.

There is little new in such a position. Late leader Deng Xiaoping contended that territorial disputes should be set aside for future generations to solve and ways found to jointly develop contested areas for mutual benefit. Amid conflicts with Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations over islands in oil and fish-rich waters, though, the policy has not been properly articulated. Further muddying waters has been the growth of the People's Liberation Army navy and involvement in deep-sea ports in the Indian Ocean to help gain a foothold on strategic maritime trade and supply routes. The opening this week of a massive Chinese-built US$500 million container terminal in Colombo on a par with facilities in Singapore and Dubai has irked rivals, as has a deal by a company to acquire the port at Gwadar in Pakistan.

Beijing has made its intentions for a blue-water fleet plain with the launching last year of the country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. But that, like the involvement in port operations, should not be a surprise for a nation with the world's second-biggest economy and vast expertise in technical skills, construction and management. There is a gap, though, when it comes to transparency and that is where authorities have to do a better job. Vague intentions create doubts, not trust.