Paper
Douglas H. Paal
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Source: Getty
In The Media
Doug Paal on South China Sea
Countries involved in South China Sea disputes should refrain from nationalist rhetoric and focus on diplomatic negotiations that promote shared interests.
Published on Sep 20, 2012
Source: RTE News
- Vietnam’s first successful drilling for oil in disputed areas of the South China Sea fired the starting gun for conflict. China has not initiated tensions, but has reacted strongly to actions taken by its neighbors.
- Despite heated rhetoric, territorial positions are not immutable. The current “nine-dashed line” representing China’s claim changed after negotiations successfully defined the border between Chinese and Vietnamese territory.
- Uncontrolled competition for resources threatens common goals. With fishing stocks in decline, countries are more aggressively exploiting fishing areas farther afield. Disputes over energy resources do not reflect sensible economics, as overall oil and gas deposits are small or very difficult to extract.
- Tensions have been driven by national ego—a way forward is to focus on solving individual resource issues, and devising sensible, sustainable, responsible solutions for harvesting common goods.
- Countries involved, as well as the United States, should dial down language that could be perceived as counterproductive and aggressive.
About the Author
Douglas H. Paal
Distinguished Fellow, Asia Program
Paal previously served as vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase International and as unofficial U.S. representative to Taiwan as director of the American Institute in Taiwan.
- America’s Future in a Dynamic Asia
- U.S.-China Relations at the Forty-Year MarkQ&A
- +1
Douglas H. Paal, Tong Zhao, Chen Qi, …
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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