ChinaFile
Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea Aren’t Enough
The U.S. will need to do more if it’s to stop Chinese overreach.
By Julian G. Ku, M. Taylor Fravel, Malcolm Cook
ForeignPolicy.com
May 16, 2016
Excerpt:
Julian G. Ku, Professor of Law, Hofstra University:
The United States has the better and more persuasive interpretation of UNCLOS [U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea]. But if China is able to drag the United States into the technical arguments over UNCLOS, some of the political force of the U.S. FONOPs [freedom of navigation operations] will inevitably erode. While it should not abandon FONOPs, the United States needs to come up with different ways to challenge China’s land reclamations and expansionism. FONOPs are not going to be enough.