* As a very absolute thing.
* Describes human behavior and is protected in an orderly manner as human rights.
Contemporary Issues related to the South China Sea (SCS) case study?
In this case, the South China Sea conflict is a contemporary conflict and issue that occurs between ASEAN countries. Not only ASEAN countries, China and America are also involved in it. China has a very strong belief related to the history of its ancestors that the South China Sea is China's territory. This makes the contemporary global issue of regionalism very difficult for the countries involved in it.
China has made the South China Sea part of China's strategic interests to secure the disputed waters. China claims 80 percent of the South China Sea waters belonging to its country. However, it can be seen that until now the ownership of some of the territorial waters of the South China Sea is still being disputed by a number of ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, as well as non-ASEAN countries such as Taiwan and China, which have not found a peaceful solution. China is currently showing its greatest power and ignoring the international law of the sea or what is commonly referred to as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which involves its country in dealing with disputes in the South China Sea.
As has been revealed by many media, in the early stages China built artificial islands around the Spratly Islands for military purposes and interests. This has given China additional power to keep other countries away from the South China Sea (The Jakarta Post, 2021)
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which is an institution based in Washington D.C., USA, has captured satellite images showing the construction of Chinese military bases in the South China Sea. China has built missile shelters and other military infrastructure around the South China Sea. In addition to military facilities and as evidence that the South China Sea has become part of China's strategic interests, the Chinese government has also built other supporting facilities such as China has built an 800 thousand square mile city named Shansa and the area is 1,700 times the size of New York City, the city that built on Woody Island since 2012.
The construction of the "island city" can be interpreted as a further step in China's camouflage to declare a South China Sea exclusion zone, including an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) which will effectively turn international waters into China's internal waters. This further confirms China's strategic interests with its expansion policy in the South China Sea.
China's increasingly expansive steps in the South China Sea are not without opposition. Countries that have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea strongly oppose China's expansionary steps, because they are considered to hamper diplomatic efforts (which are now stalled) in resolving the South China Sea dispute. The decision of the United Nations Arbitration Court in The Hague on the South China Sea in 2016 which granted the Philippines' objection to China's claims and activities in the South China Sea, can be seen as a form of opposition from countries in dispute with China in the South China Sea. Another strong opposition came from the US, China's main rival in the region. Joe Biden, a week after being sworn in as the 46th US President, immediately sent a stern warning to China by ordering the US Pacific Fleet, led by the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, to enter the waters of the South China Sea.
Biden reiterated US support for its allies (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) as well as countries with territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. The US, under Biden's leadership, opposes any unilateral attempt to change the status quo in the disputed territories. This means that the US, with its war fleet, and as part of its security partnership with its allies in the region, could come into conflict with China in the South China Sea. The potential for conflict that occurs could be widespread, not only between the US and China, but could also involve extra regional powers that are US allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Britain and France have sent their naval combat fleets into the waters, followed by Germany, as part of efforts by the US and its NATO allies to prevent China's expansionary advance in the South China Sea. In addition to the three countries, a Canadian naval warship also sailed through the Taiwan Strait on its way to join exercises with Australian, Japanese and US navies in the South China Sea.
