HONG KONG – The US and China are risking a tit-for-tat escalation over the Paracel Islands as Beijing asserts its authority over one of its most tightly-held assets in the South China Sea and Washington challenges a growing military build-up.
Both Chinese and foreign security experts say Beijing won’t compromise over the Paracels, and it views its 42-year grip over the entire archipelago as significantly different to the more fragmented situation further south in the contentious Spratly Islands.
China does not acknowledge the Paracels are disputed by neighbouring Vietnam, repeatedly ignoring Hanoi’s requests for talks on the Paracels as part of broader territorial discussions and attempting to force them off the regional diplomatic agenda.
“We’re in for a difficult time…when it comes to the Paracels, China is not going to budge on what it sees as its absolute sovereign rights,” said Zhang Baohui, a mainland security expert at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University.
“We could see China acting more swiftly and decisively to anything it sees as a so-called provocation in the Paracels.”
Since the US navy dispatched a destroyer to sail close to the Paracels last month, China has established advanced surface-to-air missiles batteries and re-deployed fighter jets to the islands, prompting US-led protests that Beijing is militarising the South China Sea.
