TTTEAI]STRALIANffi

February 24,2078
To the Editor:

Gerg Sheridan's analysis of freedom of navigation ("Australia considers sending a vessel into the South
China Sea", 24-25121is muddled and factually incorrect. Sheridan does not distinguish between traditional
freedom navigation (FoN), the right to sail on the high seas, and freedom of navigation operational patrols
conducted by the United States to challenge what it views as excessive maritime claims under
international law' ln either case, FON is not a challenge to sovereignty as Sheridan asserts. Sheridan is also
wrong on two counts when he writes that the Permanent Court of Arbitration(PCA) ruled that China had
taken territory illegally from the Philippines. The first error is that the PCA was not involved in the case
brought by the Philippines against China. lt was the Arbitral Tribunal set up under Annex Vil of the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS provides that jurisdictional disputes can be settled
by one of four means: lnternationalTribunalon the Law of the Sea, lnternationalCourt of Justice, Arbitral
Tribunal and Special Arbitral Tribunal. The second error is that the Arbitral Tribunal ruled that there was
no legal basis for China's nine dash line claim; the Tribunal did not rule on sovereignty. The philippines
was careful not to raise sovereignty issues in its claim as this would have been dismissed by the Arbitral
Tribunal as outside its jurisdiction. Finally, Sheridan repeatedly uses the term islands without making clear
that the Arbitral Tribunal clarified the distinction between an island and a rock in its Award. lt ruled there
were no islands in the legal meaning of the term in the Spratly archipelago. Sheridan should have used"
the term features to refer to rocks and low tide elevations (land features covered by water at high tide).'
The Arbitral Tribunal ruled that two of the features on which China constructed three kilometre runways
were low tide elevations and were not subject to appropriation. Low tide elevations are not entitled to a
maritime zone.
The real crux of the matter is that China does not base its claims to land features or maritime zones in the
South China Sea on UNCLOS or other international law. China claims allthe features within its nine dash
line and their adjacent waters. lt warns off foreign ships and vessels from entering a specious security
alert zone. China has never delimited 12 nm territorial seas around any of the features it occupies, So,
sailing a ship or flying an aircraft within 12 nm of such features, as Sheridan opines, is a fool's errand. lt
gives legal respect to something that China does not claim and does not address China's assertion
of a
security alert zone.
ln order to prevent acquiescence to China's ambit claims over the Spratly islands, Australia and other like-
minded navies, either singly or jointly, should continue to assert traditional freedom of navigation by
sailing through and flying over the South China Sea where international law allows and either rebuff or
ignore China's pretentious objections.

Carlyle A. Thayer
lL Ambara Place
Aranda, ACT 2614
(02) 62s1 1849
 Freedom- of-navigation operation
would challenge Beijingd,sovereignty,
GREG SHERIDAITI
Fo\TEIGN rntroR ' t,-,, :.

dwing his time as PM. This is the

In theweeks leading up to
Malcolrn Turnbull's landmark
visit to Washington, DC, his
government has been involved
in giving intense consideration
to conducting an independent
co
N
d
,:
assessment of the most senior
Americans.
Mike Green, the Asia director
atthe US National Security
Council under George W. Bush,
q4thorof a definitive history of
, US strategy in Asia, and oni of
the most influential Asiathink
tankfigures in Washington, says
Beiling recognises this too.
"Turnbull came into officewith
very favourable views of China,,,
Green told me in a telephone

a o
+J
Australian freedom-of-
navigation operation in t}te
South China Sea.
interviewthis week, yet, in
Green's view, the PM has now
developed a very tough-minded
N
\t S-l t1
i-
Such an exercisewould view of Beijing.
N qJ rp{ "A Chinese scholarsaidto me
f-t\-, dl Tumbull is an example of a

V) -r
. Fi. q..) qJ] regional leader who should have

c-{
F{
gql
q)
., been more friendly towards
r, Qrina, butbecause of China's

rl
c
U
6til i. :

; ',ii his is Canberrat

.rdl
J
F
d=
,6$ 6u'ql undertake a formal freedom-of-
navigation exercise, nor had it
decision, to be
-.:
<tr
LJ9
Zi
ru .ii
r;:{
fE(
c\3
- '
sul
H
l-t-
F1 .l
decided not to undertake one.
The Coalition goverirmeni has
strongly and publicly supported
the US in its re$lar freedom-of-
taken

national interest
in
the Iight
of Australia's deep-

+-) T,
-L-i navigation operatidns,
I

Ellr
V) 'tJ lhenewlyannounced
, *,*.aqFons it has not fumedout that
US way. He said that Turnbull is an
F< (.'1 :J
i

ambassadorto Ausbalia,the example that shows that

gEl
l
i!GqJ
ir J Xi
four*tar Admiral Harry Harris, Jinping has gone too far. Mind
nas heen_among the seniorUS you, XiJinping doesn,t especially
naval o{pcers who have iisten to scirollrs.,,
trequenfly suggested this course Tumbull's visit to
. _:i
jg^*gyj|91vev9r, lhis ig Washington has both a security
LanDerra's decisiorl to be,taken and a trade dimension.
ih the light of Australia's deep Celebrating ..100 years of
national interest in the freedom matesfrip;Based on the first time
oftheseas.Ithasbeen discussed US troops w""iinto battle in
intensively and overa longtime WorlJ frrrf which was under
betwee^n senior officials on bottr Australian command, has also
sidesofthePacific. drawn,u.."rrt UyoritfrevJ
Ifthis decision goes ahead, it Jor. oigooiwi"U toreusuatia
."plsent a sudden that exiis throughout America,
ll9*tryt
tgT *!:China position especially in Writringtor.
l*S
bythe Prime Minister orhis -Kurt
Campbe[ wf,o was the
government Tumbullwill ir"*;;"-t#fil"rtial assistant
to engage in the secretary ;f state for Asia in the
5ontinue
balanced rhetoricthathas nrst Ofima aAministration,
and
distinguishdd his approach to the etr;cd;;rthor of Barack
Chta.even-du-ringrhis US visir,, bama:s,;pil;;6A"i4Llil
Unlikethe US national
O. *"
teeaom oinavigation has been
securitystrategy,Turnbulwilt di;*rftl;;;LbyAmerican
not label China a "t]lreat". He and Ausnalian officia]s.
has arguedthatthe term threat ,.As
a State Deparhnent
involves ajudgment aboutboth official we (he and tris austraian
capability and intenL While interlocutors) talked aboui ---
peliing has certainlybeel . freedom-of-riruig"ti* lrru",
lryp]u"d
il n psive capability more generally,,'-Campbell said
Duild-up, Canberra's official, in a telephoneinterview.
publicview is that it has not ,Weialked
Iess oten'atout
exhibitedtrostiJe intent. (specific) operationi;rh;i;-
Nonetheless, Tumbull,s mbre ti(ety to U" t *iA"O ly
undgnlaldjng of Beging's Defence. Australians sharei
--
strategic behaviour has certainly, their views with us of
the
andunderstandably,evolved Con nuedonpage2l
 Australia may send vessel
into the South ChinaSea . t,,

Continued from Page 15 Nonetheless, therc'is a strong

importance of maintaining the key
planks of the operating system in
Asia freedom of navigation,
- of the seas. There was
freedom
strong philosophical support from
the Australians for what we were
doing."
The Auskalian Defence Force
and government have work-
shopped exactly what an Austra-
lian exercise would look like. For a
true freedom-of-navigation exer-
cise, a ship or plane would need to
sail or fly within 12 nautical miles
of a disputed feature. Australia,
like most nations, does not recog-
nise Beijing's "nine-dash line"
under which it daims almost all of
the South China Sea, and the is-
lands in it, as sovereign Chinese
sensethat AustrAlia conducting a
freedom of navtg4tion operation
alone would be best, simplest and
in part because it is an
cleanest
assertion- of Australian national
interests, independent of anybodY
else's national interests.
.Sources suggest an Australian
ship worrld not sail past an island
because,' although Canberra does
not take sides in the debate over
who has sovereignty over specific
islands, an island nonetheless
must be owned by somebody. In-
stea( the Autralian vessel would
sail near an artificial feafure Bei- : country has.
jing has built because intemation-
al law is dear that such structures
cannot generate territorial rights. , Australia Thatthe
Singapore, for example, has re-
daimed a large amount of land business and state leaders to come
'No country is
better placed to
engage .." this
administration
than Australia'
I KURT CAMPBELL
i FORMER U.S. OFFICIAL
tions of both countries. Campbell
says: "During this period your
Prime Minister, Foreign Minister
and ambassador have more effec-
tively engaged the. (Trump) ad-
ministration than anv other
No countqris better
placed to engage America, to en-
gage this administration, ttran
Prime Minister
has assembled such an armada of

?r territory. The Permanent Courtof

Arbitration ruled that in territory
it has taken from The Philippines,
Beljingwas actingillegallyandhad
nojustifiable daims to it'
It is most likely that the Tum-
bull govemment would not an-
nounce an exercise in advance. To
do so would gua.ranteEs a strong
political reaction from Beijing, in-
duding threats and bluster, cre-
ating a situation in which one side
or the other has to back down, or
look as though it's backing down.
Australia's nary and aA force :l
have already conducted a number .i.i strengtlening
of operations in which they go $ h.ArB- q high foreign poticyorder tiveness with which he has dealt
right up to the edge of, but do not B ority. This applies
cross, the l2NM limit France, Brit-
ain and other nations have sailed s
similarly close to such arbitrary
limits in order to establish the prin-
ciple of freedom of navigation
Reliable sources suggest an
Australian operation would prob.
ably involve only one ship. The
idea is not to confront China but to
establish a principle. Australia has
in the past deployed a number of
frigates to work with the UN Navy
in the Pacific These have on oc-
casion been part of the protective
screen sailing with a US aircraft
carrier. Ifthe US deployed a carrier
and extended the territory of its i hereisimpressive.
tiny nation, but has not daimed
,
,
"Just the common cause of
any extra part ofthe ocean as its Australia saying: how
territorial waters as a result. It is ' in the Middle East how
can we help
will we
also likely that the Australian ship -handle
North Korea, how can we
would sail within I2NM of a land be most effective in coalition in the
reclarnation feature built by some Squth China Se4thecontinued
counS otherthan China as well, fort ! ef-
.at deinonstrating relevance
,*r !r'n-e*!.il'!*tuiih#
and (alliance) maintenance (it)
to demonstratethgvoyage was as_ has been exhemely effective." -
serting a principle. hatherthan just Green, from the opposite side
Beljing. Nonethetess,
PlgymC of US politics, offers a broadly
Beijing would certainly be un_ similar judgment He believes
.l
tl happy about such an operation. Turnbull is second onlypossiblyto
Tumbull sees supporting and Japan?s Shinzo Abe in the effec-
a rules:based
pri_ with the Trump administration.
to security. trade "Tumbull's relationship with Tr-
andinveShnent.
H ump is perhaps not quite as good as
Says Green: "Cbjna,s use ofco_ Abe's but it's aboutthebest in Asia
ercion, on any measure, is increas- after Abe," he says. "The trick for
ing. If Australia's tolerance of tlat
Turnbull is that he can't lecture
coercion remains the same it will Trump, he can't tutor Trump. He
result in an outcome that is very
mustrt act like a lawyer with a
unfavourable to Austratia. Free_ brief lookingfor an answer."
dom-of-navi gation exercises dem_
Green believes Turnbull has
onsilate that China,s coercive adapted effectively to the Trump
tactics will not lead to success. In a persona and style. Canberra re-
skategic sense it would be a dern- lates to the US institutions of state
onshation of will power and sdi_
daritv." :
I put tq the prime Ministeds
Office the question of whetherthe

,Nrffi*t
government was consideringsuctr
to a freedom-of-navigation exer- an. A spokesman repfiea: ,,e"ustra_
cise, sources suggest Canberra Ia supports freedom
ofnavigation
would not have withdrawn its frig- and overflight around the *orh-
ate.Infacf to do sowouldbe oper- But if your comment is about a . ureen,whoknowsAc.
ationally irresponsible, because a specific operation,
fiigate deployed in that way is an ment as a matter
the govem_ :l:?q*,T,_ffiiH'###r:l
i, .,r
of course does flj,lT1y +sra: frinr in asia
essential part of a carrier battle not discuss Australian Def6nce uc s ooD€ well. The _Ie,
group. To withdraw the ship in Force operational
matters.,,
w€re at fi* *"pr.i f?rffffir,
such circumstances would be to Generally Tumbull has got
partiallv disable the carrier group. very high marks from the most im_
portant and powerfirl fizures in H:IriF:lti:i}:hxr;"f
Washington. That this hlas been
fume-d around so markedly foom
the first difficult phone conver_
sation^with Dona.ld Trump speaks l'ffiintr***i-s
well of Turnbull's skills bui also of
the commitnent to tJle relation_
ship throushout the kev insrFrr-
;;;il;"#;il;fid;;'p"b-
just
lic lifd', though over half of
those who understood the term
LGBT believed they had the right
as citizens in Indonesia.
to live
Djiyadi says Indonesians are at
nese and Indian govemments are
nur.t *otu comfortable with'the'
TrumPPresidenry th-an theY were
with the Obame Presldency'
The national securitY strategY
is aXev placetb start. Green'sjudg-
the admin-
-"nt: "fne ffarping ofof a free and
iJttrtion't objective
n*n mao-Pi.inc is dismissed bY
sime as rhetoric. But I think it is a
*"tiott rePresentation of how the
US oUin"t Plans to
counter
Etitrt *t"*irig intimidation and
i"n".r.Eiu"t"eies. The (strategy)
it ttt" nttt since the Cold War to
oo"n *ittt a clear statement that
the world is defined bY great Power
tiuuftY. fft a fittle rough, a little
raw but it rePresents a consensus
;;;iih; dv agencies ." (which)
havenotbeenthis unitedin a stra-
G. for decades'" He adds:
iiie uiu*
Australian Govemment for-
eisn affairs white PaPer is a more
ooltiterersion of the NSS'"
...
' -DesPite
this broad
strategic
.onue.g"n." of interests betw'een
W"st iieton rnd Canberr4 Green
i"ilout qualifications to his
"aOt
aooraisal TrumP's Performance
m
tfii reglon. FirsL he bluntlY saYs'

iti unitear wtrettrer Trump has ac-

tuatlv read his own security strat-
'*d how deePlY he is
"gv
committedtoiL
Second, the TrumP administra-
tion still haA no trade agendain
Ati" f" tt it it is very similar to the
OUama admlnistration, given how .

little effort Obama made to gettlre

tt*i:i".in" PartrershiP ratified
Uv.ongr.tt. frumP shot America
irl tf',. Toot bY withdrawing from
the TPP. C<imPetitors, such as'
ironicallv, eusralia now have
than the U S to
-r.t U"tt". "tcess TPP nations
tt. martet" of the l1
that went ahead with the agree-
mentwithouttheUS'
----3i*mtrY,
while TrumP talks
,f*t Uif"tiia trade deals' his ad-
its-gad:
ill"ittion is using all
the North
enersv to renegotiate
a.m#can Pree Trade Agreement-
iGionlY that, anY nery-tra{e deal
has to Pass congress' The TrymP
Jtt iriit rtlo'liasn'tinitiatedanY
ii"nin"*tlil'teral trade deal' and
afiiroueh ithas talked aggressively
i".tio"i"g China for unfair
^uo"i
ilia", of-th e peculiarity of
L".""t"
so
US trade law, most of its actions
far have hit US allies harder than
theYhavehitChina
- thititrllu"ry messY' Ukemost
thinss in life,there is goodand bao'
fft."US relationshiP remains an
immense asset for Austral4 cnu-
calto our national interest'
So far, Tumbull is managrng
ttrat assei, in extremelY comPlex
circumstances, effectivelY'