Calling for calm in the wake of the Nov. 24 Turkish shoot down of a Russian SU-24 fighter jet, China knows what its like to be under the gun. Building military installations in shallow reefs in the South China Sea, China’s been under fire restricting air space and waterways in one of the world’s most active sea shipping lanes for global commerce. Despite the war of words between Moscow and Istanbul, China tried to calm the waters now threatenomg WWIII should Russian retaliate in kind, prompting Turkey to invoke iNATO’s defense. Watching the shoot down near the Syria-Turkey border, China sees parallels with its muscular approach in the South China Sea, where Beijing has repeatedly warned Washington to stay clear of China’s rights to impose its control over the region. Meeting in Manila, Philippines Nov. 18, President Barack Obama promised to resist China’s bullying.
China’s Foreign Ministry called for calm between Russian and Turkey but routinely antagonizes its neighbors in the South China Sea, including Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar [Burma], Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. None of the South Asian countries cede power to China in the South China Sea. Building military installations, insisting on 12-mile water limits and declaring no-fly zones, China dominates the region. While there’s nothing wrong with showing concerns in the Mideast, China needs to heed its neighbors’ concerns over attempts to control international waterways in the South China Sea. “We agree on the need for bold steps to lower tensions, including pledging to halt further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea,” Obama said on Nov. 18 speaking with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.
Calling for calm, China didn’t denounce Turkey’s reckless actions downing a Russian fighter jet. Routine flyovers by many parties and Mideast countries, including the U.S., Syria, Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Israel, etc., cause frequent air space violations, typically ignored without incident. Rubbing salt in the wound, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to apologize to Moscow, insisting it was a routine engagement. “A Russian warplane has been shot down and a pilot killed—this is an unfortunate incident and we express sympathy,” said the Chinese Foreign Ministry without taking sides. Hidden in China’s message is a warning to all foreign powers in the South China Sea that the same could happen there. Violating U.N. Rules governing international waterways, China finds itself in the same boat as Turkey, threatening military force against its neighbors.
Questions raised by Moscow about Turkey’s alleged oil purchases from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria were promptly denounced by Erdogan. Asking Moscow for proof, Erdogan didn’t deny the charges but said Russia had no proof. Destroying 1,000 ISIS oil tankers potentially heading North to Turkey seemed closely correlated with Nov. 14 shoot down. Turkey insists that it’s been doing its part against ISIS but questions about Erogan’s son Bilal doing black-market oil business with ISIS persist. After the Nov. 13 ISIS Paris massacre, killing 130 and injuring hundreds more, French President Francois Hollande met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Nov. 26 discussing the war against ISIS. Putin’s caught between a rock-and-a-hard-place, defending his ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and joining any Western alliance against ISIS.
Putin pointed fingers at Washington for the Nov. 24 Turkish shoot down because the U.S. leads the Western alliance against ISIS. Insisting that Washington knew Russia’s flight-plans, Putin thinks the incident could have been avoided. Speaking at a joint White House press conference with Hollande Nov. 24, Obama hinted that rincidents happen when all parties aren’t on the same page, hinting that Putin continues to defend al-Assad. For whatever reason, White House policy seems more focused on toppling al-Assad than fighting ISIS. White House officials know Putin is committed to defending his long-term ally al-Assad against a four-year-plus Saudi-backed Sunni insurgency. Putin stated publicly at the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 28 that toppling al-Assad would repeat the same mistakes in Iraq and Libya, causing more terrorism and leading to more chaos in the region.
China’s concerns about the Turkish shoot down of a Russian fighter jet mirror their own problems, threatening to take military action against any country in the South China sea encroaching on their sovereignty. Building airstrips and military installations in shallow reefs in the South China Sea, then declaring sovereignty, no-fly zones and 12-mile limits violates U.N. rules governing international waterways. Not condemning Turkey’s reckless actions, China hints that it could do the same in the South China Sea. “The relevant parties should increase communication to avoid further escalating the situation. The international community should earnestly strengthen coordination and cooperation in the fight against terrorism to avoid this kind of incident from happening again,” said the Chinese Foreign Ministry. To avoid future incidents in the South China Sea, China should heed its own warnings.
