The challenges of naval diplomacy in China In peacetime, naval diplomacy in China as in all States faces a complex challenge. For coastal naval diplomacy, the most significant challenges are the uncertainty of sovereignty adscription, due to in- complete maritime areas delimitation and the potential for conflicts of legal positions among States within certain regions. For naval di- plomacy at sea, however, the challenges are the deficiencies and ob- solescence of some of the provisions of UNCLOS. These two issues will be considered in more detail below. 5.1. Uncertainty of maritime areas delimitation China has twenty-two neighbouring States, comprising fifteen land neighbours and seven maritime neighbours. These seven maritime neighbours are Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. North Korea and Vietnam have spe- cial status, as they are adjacent to China both on land and sea. As a large number of States adjoin China, in terms of a ‘sea border’, un- fortunately, this has led to various maritime disputes and issues re- garding sovereignty claims among the States. The sea areas surrounding China, namely, the Western Pacific areas, are currently considered as the areas with the greatest potential for crises and conflicts in the world. Among the numerous issues and disputes, the most prominent are disputes on sovereignty adscription of islands with historical issues and the consequential disputes on the delimitation of the surrounding sea areas (Ren, 2004). For example, in the Sino-Japanese dispute over the demarcation of continental shelf in the East China Sea, Japan insists on setting the boundaries on the basis of, ‘the middle line’. Japan has also impeded routine patrols by Chinese naval craft in the sea areas surrounding the Chunxiao oil platform and this has affected the im- plementation of Chinese coastal naval diplomatic policy (Luo, 2011). In addition, other disputes in this area, such as the delimitation dispute between North Korea and South Korea in the Korean Peninsula area, the delimitation disputes among China, Japan and South Korea in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, the Diaoyu Islands dispute between China and Japan and the disputes between China and the Southeast States in the South China Sea, also pose great challenges to purely political and diplomatic actions at sea (Zhou, 2012).26 Various factors need to be taken into consideration, when drafting and adopting na- tional policies (Janis, 1977).27 The, ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative’, accompanied by the adaptation of friendly and cooperative naval diplomatic strategy can, to a certain extent, deter other States' attempts to undermine China's sovereignty and threaten its maritime interests and reduce the possibility of conflict in this region, so that more attention could be given to joint economic development.
In peacetime, naval diplomacy in China faces a complex challenge. For coastal naval diplomacy, the most significant challenges are the uncertainty of sovereignty adscription, States adjoin China, in terms of a ‘sea border’, un- fortunately, this has led to various maritime disputes and issues re- garding sovereignty claims among the States. The sea areas surrounding China, namely, the Western Pacific areas, are currently considered as the areas with the greatest potential for crises and conflicts in the world. Among the numerous issues and disputes, the most prominent are disputes on sovereignty adscription of islands with historical issues and the consequential disputes on the delimitation of the surrounding sea areas n the Sino-Japanese dispute over the demarcation of continental shelf in the East China Sea, Japan insists on setting the boundaries on the basis of, ‘the middle line’. Japan has also impeded the im- plementation of Chinese coastal naval diplomatic policy The, ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative’, accompanied by the adaptation of friendly and cooperative naval diplomatic strategy can deter States' attempts to undermine China's sovereignty and threaten its maritime interests and reduce the possibility of conflict in this region, so that more attention could be given to joint economic development.