Offers of birdwatching, holiday cruises and flying tours have rekindled tensions over disputed atolls and reefs in the South China Sea. In March, Taiwan built a birdwatching hide on one of the specks of territory it claims in the Spratly Islands. Last month, Vietnam launched what it said was the first of a series of holiday cruises to cays it occupies in the Spratly chain and began work to restore a disused airstrip on one.
Vietnam protested at Taiwan's activity, while Beijing protested at Vietnam's moves, taking the opportunity to reiterate its assertion of 'indisputable' sovereignty over the Spratlys, which it calls the Nansha Islands. The People's Liberation Army held military exercises in the South China Sea last month, sending a signal to rivals to back off.
Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei - the other claimants to parts of the widely scattered Spratlys - were alarmed, not least because it was in blatant defiance of the spirit of a non-binding joint declaration signed in November 2002 by mainland China and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It said that disputes should be resolved peacefully, and called on claimants to avoid action that might cause tension.
Military clashes and skirmishes in the South China Sea have occurred numerous times over the past few decades. The most serious were in 1974, when mainland forces invaded and captured the Paracel Islands (north of the Spratlys) from Vietnam, and in 1988, when the PLA and Vietnamese navies clashed near a reef in the Spratlys. Several Vietnamese vessels were sunk and more than 70 Vietnamese sailors killed.
Why is there a resurgence of tension now, after all the diplomatic efforts? It can hardly be about ornithology and tourism. A significant part of the answer is the increasing urgency for major East Asian economies, led by China and Japan, to secure disputed maritime frontiers and gain control over resources, especially offshore oil and gas, seen as vital for future growth.
In March, seven mainland activists, apparently with the connivance of the government in Beijing, landed on the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea between southern Japan and Taiwan. The cluster of rocky outcrops, which the Japanese call the Senkaku Islands, are claimed by Japan, mainland China and Taiwan. Although uninhabited, they are patrolled by Japan's coastguard. The activists were rounded up and deported.
