Malay Archipelago and China’s supremacy

Christopher Fernandez | January 20, 2013

China’s rise as an economic superpower is being watched with caution by its neighbours.

COMMENT

The stark reality of an economically-empowered China is only now beginning to sink in as the Chinese make forays to expand their territory and land and maritime space much to the fear and dismay of nations in the South China Sea region.
The Chinese are making a bid to claim in its entirety the Spratly Islands whose islands are also being similarly claimed as territories of the nations of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
China is also in a dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu islands which is known as Senkaku to the Japanese and the latter are not flinching in any way in their bid to claim the islands which in turn has caused much resentment and anger among the Chinese.
The Chinese map of history also lays claim to Tibet and Taiwan. While Tibet was annexed by China in 1950 after a five-year period of independence, Taiwan has clearly shown strong resistance in wanting to be part of the People’s Republic of China.
While Macau and Hong Kong have reverted to China upon the expiry of their treaties with Portugal and Britain respectively, Macau has become more of a gaming haven while Hong Kong strongly refuses to abide by the tenets and obligations of communist China and so is enjoying the status of a Special Autonomous Region.
Incursion into Indian Territory

The Chinese see their land and sea space according to a map of their own making, as opposed to the rest of the world, and they even have the audacity to occupy swathes of Indian land in the north Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
What transpired was that in 1961 the Sino-India war was fought at the instigation of then premier Chou-En Lai over his hatred of Nehru’s stance in wanting to lead Asia. Nehru’s leadership moves caused much anger in Chou who decided then to attack India.
Chinese forces invaded and occupied parts of the north Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh before Chairman Mao reprimanded Chou for his actions and instructed him to stop the battle which by now had Nehru requesting the British and American forces to come to the  aid of India.
Chou gave in to Mao’s commands but refused to pullout Chinese troops from the occupied Indian land and since then China has also laid claim to these lands belonging to India as being part of the Chinese expansionary map.
World leaders guarded against Chinese aggression

Unlikely as it might seem for India, it was Singapore elder statesman, Lee Kuan Yew, who some years ago suggested that if anyone can contain the expansive might of China, it is India, but he said the Indians will have to buck up to bolster their economic growth to match China’s and act as a buffer from the Chinese expanding their presence into South East Asia.
While the United States have a visible and strong naval and military presence in the region, both US president Barack Obama and secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, have urged India to play a more leading role in world affairs in keeping with their rise also as an economic powerhouse.
While the feeling of the Atlantic powers, North America and Western Europe, is that China is beginning to resemble a bull in a China shop and has created nervousness and tensions to rise in the region, the jitters and shudders being felt needs to be appeased by a concerted effort by the world at large to push China back within its confines and space.
While in the past “ping-pong” diplomacy was seen as the way forward, this has become redundant and it appears that a more forceful response by China’s troubled and worried neighbors might be more appropriate.
While land and maritime disputes are usually forwarded to the International Courts of Justice at The Hague for arbitration, whether a nation like China subscribes to such an approach and will abide by the decisions of the ICJ is difficult to ascertain.
A better solution – the rise of the Malay Archipelago

Since India fights shy of wanting to act in a more comprehensive way to curtail the expansionist policies of Beijing, it is envisaged that a vital role can be played by the Malay Archipelago, as Malays are prevalent not only in Indonesia and Malaysia, but in Singapore, Brunei, South Thailand and South Philippines, to act as a buffer against China.
Since this region shares a common heritage and is united by the use of the Malay language, it is possible to develop politically and economically this region into a powerhouse that can rise up to match the might of China.
With India and the Malay Archipelago acting as buffers, it will be hard for China to wiggle its way into expanding its land and maritime territory. China’s only real desire in expanding territory is land grabbing to exploit the potential of harvesting rich, abundant natural resources in the region but which unfortunately does not belong to them.
The world at large must look into the possibility of causing the Malay Archipelago to rise in power and act as a counterweight to China. Indonesia especially needs to look into its currently shelved plans of developing nuclear weapons for its armed forces.
But what is even more important is to fast track the economic growth in this region. There needs to be developed a pact and common understanding among nations and areas of the Malay Archipelago to come together and develop and grow to match the success stories of China and India.
By doing so, it will cause a balance of power and the power equilibrium will be such that China’s harbored intentions of the bullying and cowering into submission of countries in this region will stop.
The region of the Malay Archipelago offers rich spoils for foreign investors and can be transformed into the most dynamic economic region in the world if a concerted effort is made by advanced and developed countries to participate and explore and exploit its huge and tremendous potential.
But more importantly, the need to invest in the Malay Archipelago has to be seen in the light of balancing the equation of power in the Asia-Pacific region and to place the region on par with the forerunners of the globalised world.
Christopher Fernandez has been teaching and writing throughout Asia since 1984.

Source freemalaysiatoday