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Reclamation work under way at Subi Reef in the Spratly islands in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters

Sino-EU ties 'will withstand warship row'

The European Union's support for a US warship's patrol near Chinese man-made islands in a disputed area of the South China Sea is a blow to Beijing, but is unlikely to significantly harm growing Sino-EU ties, according to analysts.

The European Union's support for a US warship's patrol near Chinese man-made islands in a disputed area of the South China Sea is a blow to Beijing, but is unlikely to significantly harm growing Sino-EU ties, according to analysts.

A senior EU official said on Friday that the US was exercising its right to freedom of navigation and he also expressed concerns about China's construction of islands and bases in waters subject to rival claims of sovereignty.

"Whilst not taking a position on claims, the EU is committed to a maritime order based upon the principles of international law, in particular as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," an EU spokesman also said in a statement. The USS Lassen sailed within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-built islands in the Spratly archipelago on Tuesday.

The move infuriated China's government, which described the patrol as illegal.

China's navy chief also warned his American counterpart on Thursday that the US risked sparking a war if it continued with its "provocative acts" in the South China Sea.

Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese Studies and the director of the Lau China Institute at King's College, London, said the EU's stance was unlikely to damage relations with China.

The Europeans may raise the South China Sea issue as a concern during talks with China and the Chinese might protest and show their irritation, "but the core of the relationship will not be changed by this", he said.

"The priority of the Chinese leadership is still economic growth and domestic issues and there relations with the EU are critically important," Brown said.

President Xi Jinping visited the Britain on a state visit last month with at least US$46 billion worth of deals signed.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel also visited China last week as Germany seeks to further improve trade ties with the world's second-largest economy.

Brown added that the EU knew that the US still played the dominant role in global security and it was to be expected that it would support the American patrol in the South China Sea.

READ MORE: US risks conflicts with its 'provocative acts' in the South China Sea, China's navy chief warns

China claims most of the South China Sea as its own. Nations including Vietnam and the Philippines also lay rival claims to parts of its waters. Wang Yiwei, an international relations expert at Renmin University in Beijing, said the EU had a vested interest in supporting international laws to protect the rights of shipping.

"We shouldn't forget the EU is also a stakeholder in this region," he said.

"It is in the EU's interests to maintain the stability of the South China Sea region and to ensure freedom of navigation, in particular the business and trade that passes through it," he said.

The EU statement on the US patrol might cause a frown in Beijing, Wang added, but would cause no lasting harm to relations with China.

"It was mostly a moral gesture," he said.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Sino-EU ties 'will withstand warship row'
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