Salami Slicing Tactics in the South China Sea
Salami slicing tactics: It's not a method for cutting deli meats. It's a military strategy that China has used in the South China Sea. This "salami" represents the sea. Each "slice" is a portion of the region that China has claimed over decades, often angering its neighbors who hold competing claims.
The US missed the moment to intervene, in part because it was focused on working with China to mediate other global issues in North Korea and Iran. In that time, China occupied various coral reefs and, in some cases, turned them into artificial islands. Today, it controls 27 outposts across the sea, largely in disputed areas, which is why this mostly chopped-up salami represents the state of the sea. Now that the US has taken a more critical stance against China, what is it doing to counter Beijing?
The Strategic Importance of the South China Sea
The South China Sea is central to the Indo-Pacific, where 60% of the world's population lives. Trillions of dollars' worth of trade passes through the sea each year, according to the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. One-third of all global trade transits the sea, making many countries economically dependent on the region.
It's critical to the US economy because America imports around 90% of its advanced microchips from Taiwan, and roughly 14% of American maritime trade transited the sea in 2016. But in that same year, over 64% of China's maritime trade passed through—$874 billion. China is the largest exporter of goods in the region, and having control over more of the sea would potentially give the PRC significant power over the economies of the US and all of China's neighbors.
Economic Security and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs)
"National security is no longer simply about territorial defense; economic security is national security". And that's why the disputes in the region often focus on one big jargony term: exclusive economic zones (EEZs). EEZs are areas in the sea where a country has jurisdiction over resources, generally extending around 200 nautical miles. Countries like Vietnam and the Philippines rely on access to these areas, and China's encroachment has posed a problem for their security and economies.
"So you hear the fishermen complaining of Chinese aggressive action, denying them the ability to fish in their own exclusive economic zone, in their own waters."
China’s Historical Claims and the Nine-Dash Line
China claims it has historical rights to almost the entire South China Sea, based on a map from 1947 that illustrates dashes covering most of the sea. Fittingly, it's called the nine-dash line. However, that line cuts through EEZ claims for five other countries. To solidify its claim to the sea, China has been incrementally occupying various islands to slowly change the status quo, aka "salami slicing."
It began this process in the 1970s when it took control of the Paracel Islands from Vietnam. In 1995, China occupied Mischief Reef, claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam. And in 2012, it took Scarborough Shoal, just 120 nautical miles west of the Philippine island of Luzon. Then China started to build on the islands, which concerned the US and prompted President Xi Jinping to make this assurance in 2015:
"We are committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, and China does not intend to pursue militarization."
Escalating Militarization in the South China Sea
Not long after, the US says the PRC broke its promise. China now has 20 outposts in the Paracel Islands and seven in the Spratlys, several of which have aircraft hangars, missiles, military jamming equipment, and other advanced systems. Throughout this process, some US officials expressed concern, repeatedly telling the Chinese they were making a mistake by driving countries in the region closer to the US militarily and harming China's ties with Washington.
In 2016, something critical happened. The Philippines brought China to an international tribunal over its occupation of Filipino territories. The Philippines won, and the Hague ruled that China's claims are illegal and that the islands it had built would not expand its exclusive economic zone. But China boycotted the tribunal and refused to recognize the ruling.
US Countermeasures: Military Presence and Diplomacy
The US has taken steps to counter China in two ways: boosting its military presence and strengthening diplomatic relationships. America and the Philippines have been mutual defense allies since 1951, meaning if either country is attacked, the other must come to its aid. In 2014, the US and the Philippines signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), giving America access to five military bases in the Philippines where the US can build infrastructure and rotate troops.
However, relations between the two countries have fluctuated over the years. The previous president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, briefly strengthened ties with China, which weakened the Philippines' relationship with the US. But the shift was short-lived, and by 2021, the Philippines changed course. This year, the EDCA expanded to include four more bases, where the two countries ran their largest military drills in decades.
China's Response and the US Freedom of Navigation Operations
In response to this growing cooperation, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said it would escalate tensions and endanger peace and stability in the region.
"While there's a superpower struggle—a geopolitical competition—between the US and China, China is violating our sovereignty and sovereign rights. Regardless of the competition, we have an issue with China in that respect."
The US also regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) in the South China Sea. FONOPS are meant to challenge China's claims by demonstrating that the US will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows. The PRC calls these operations illegal, yet the US has strengthened its relationships with other nearby nations and encouraged some to run patrols through the sea as well.
Strengthening US-Vietnam Relations
In a recent call with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong of Vietnam, he and Biden discussed how to maintain a "free and open Indo-Pacific." China and Vietnam have long held diplomatic relations, and the Vietnamese economy relies on this relationship. But, like the Philippines, Vietnam has also faced difficulties operating in its own exclusive economic zone due to China's encroachment and harassment. This gave the US an opportunity to strengthen its ties with yet another country in the South China Sea.
"We greatly value the relationships we have with all of these countries in the region. And there's one constant among all of them, and that is, we respect their sovereignty. And that's where the PRC, I believe, is missing the mark because they want to operate on their own set of rules and not respect the sovereignty of the other existing nations in the region."
Source:
The Wall Street Journal. (2023, May 18). How China’s ‘Salami Slicing’ Tactics Spark South China Sea Tensions | WSJ U.S. vs. China [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwtnFTWs4zk