南シナ海情勢 中国は規範から逃れられない

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Beijing must honor code of conduct in S. China Sea to prevent conflicts
南シナ海情勢　中国は規範から逃れられない

Making its control over the South China Sea a fait accompli by buying time on the pretext of continuing dialogue, China’s posture has now become crystal clear with Beijing turning its back on efforts to formulate international rules pertaining to the disputed waters.
　対話の継続で時間を稼ぎ、南シナ海の支配強化を既成事実化する。国際的なルール作りに背を向ける中国の姿勢が鮮明になった。

To lay down a “code of conduct” to prevent conflicts in the South China Sea, senior officials from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held talks last week in Tianjin, China.
　南シナ海での紛争防止を図る「行動規範」の策定に向けて、中国と東南アジア諸国連合（ＡＳＥＡＮ）が中国・天津で、公式高官協議を開いた。

Regarding the issue of creating the code of conduct, both sides stressed what they called the positive fruits of the talks, declaring, each participant county had agreed that we would enter a new phase of consultations to discuss highly important and complex issues. No time frame or related steps for drawing up the envisioned code of conduct were spelled out, however, meaning that the China-ASEAN talks failed to make any substantive progress.
　双方は行動規範について、「各国が、重要で複雑な問題を議論するため、新たな段階に入ることに同意した」と成果を強調した。だが、策定時期などは明示されず、実質的な前進はなかった。

The proposed code of conduct is to be a set of legally binding rules that would regulate behavior of such countries as China, the Philippines and Vietnam that are disputing territory in the South China Sea. Studies are being made to incorporate in the code of conduct such rules contained in the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and creation of a framework to oversee the behavior of the respective countries concerned.
　行動規範は領有権を争う中国とフィリピンやベトナムなど関係国の行動を法的に拘束するものだ。国連海洋法条約の尊重や各国の行動を監視する枠組みの創設などを盛り込むことを検討している。

It appears that China, while showing that it is prepared to sit at the negotiating table with ASEAN, wants to prevent the United States from having any say in the region, in a bid to claim the South China Sea as “China’s own waters.”
　中国はＡＳＥＡＮとの協議に応じる一方で、米国の影響力を排除し、南シナ海を「自国の海」として囲い込むつもりなのだろう。

If a code of conduct was actually drawn up, Beijing probably would try to make its binding power as weak as possible, with the aim of emasculating the content of the pact.
　仮に行動規範をまとめる場合でも、できるだけ拘束力を弱め、中身を骨抜きにする意図があるのではないか。

Bid to divide ASEAN members

The main reason for the failure to make progress in the talks, which began in September 2013, is China’s efforts to stymie progress, as Beijing is averse to any attempt to put constraints on its endeavor to change the status quo.
　２０１３年９月に始まった協議が進展しない最大の原因は、自らの現状変更の試みが制約されるのを嫌う中国の消極姿勢にある。

Meanwhile, China is going all-out to reclaim reefs of the Spratly Islands one after another, by building such installations as a 3,000-meter-class runway and military facilities. Should a surveillance network with radar be installed there, there would be fears that a huge area of the South China Sea would come under the influence of China.
　この間、中国はスプラトリー（南沙）諸島で岩礁を次々に埋め立てて、３０００メートル級滑走路や軍事施設の建設を急いでいる。監視レーダー網が設置されれば、南シナ海の広大な区域が中国の影響下に入ることも懸念される。

It goes without saying that China, a major power that should fulfill its responsibility to ensure the region’s peace and stability, is responsible for the strained situation in the South China Sea.
　地域の平和と安定に責任を果たすべき大国である中国が南シナ海情勢を緊張させていることは、看過できない。

In the middle of this week, foreign ministers and other officials from Japan, the United States, China, ASEAN members and others will hold the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur to discuss security issues. The discussion will focus on such issues as “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea.
　今週半ばには、日米中やＡＳＥＡＮなどの外相らがクアラルンプールで、安全保障問題を話し合うＡＳＥＡＮ地域フォーラム（ＡＲＦ）を開催する。南シナ海の「航行の自由」などが焦点となる。

China presumably used the senior officials’ talks last week ahead of the ARF meeting to cause internal divisions within ASEAN, probably aimed at isolating the Philippines, as problems between the two countries have intensified.
　中国はその前の高官協議でＡＳＥＡＮ内部を分断し、中国との対立が先鋭化するフィリピンを孤立させる思惑もあったのだろう。

Problematic in this connection is that on the eve of the talks, Chinese forces carried out military exercises in the vicinity of Hainan Island in the South China Sea that were one of the largest in scale ever carried out by the Chinese military, with more than 100 vessels, scores of aircraft and strategic missile troops mobilized. The war games were apparently designed to keep the U.S. forces, which have been beefing up surveillance activities in the South China Sea, in check.
　問題なのは、中国軍が協議前日、南シナ海の海南島周辺で、艦艇１００隻以上と航空機数十機、戦略ミサイル部隊による過去最大規模の演習を行ったことだ。南シナ海の警戒監視を強める米国を牽制けんせいする狙いがあるとみられる。

Japan, in cooperation with such countries as the United States and the Philippines, must press China repeatedly to help draw up an effective code of conduct as early as possible and suspend the projects to militarize the reefs in the South China Sea.
　日本は、米国やフィリピンなど関係国と連携し、実効性のある行動規範の早期策定と、南シナ海での軍事拠点化の中止を、中国に繰り返し促さねばならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 3, 2015)