Beijing should think about how to develop the peaceful rise of the country instead of prioritizing territorial issues, given increasing tensions in the South China Sea, a mainland Chinese scholar has said.

The region has been rather restless of late, and that is not just because both the Taiwanese and mainland Chinese are continuing with their respective military exercises and live-fire training along the Taiwan Strait. France, Germany and the United Kingdom are also planning to sail warships to the South China Sea, in moves seen as being made on the basis of “Chinese expansionism.”

In the near term, there was a risk of brushes and conflicts breaking out between China and the United States on the South China Sea, though the situation would likely improve over the long run, Jia Qingguo, professor and dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, told mainland media.

China should take heed of its role as a future superpower and manage its rise in a peaceable manner, according to the Beijing academic.

Jia drew lessons from the emergence of the U.S. years ago. Unlike traditional empires, it did not engage in confrontation or war with the then hegemonic Britain, or give priority to sorting out territorial disputes and marine rights with neighboring countries, he explained.

The peaceful rise of the U.S. was largely due to its open-door policy, and even now, the country still left some of its rows unsettled, Jia said.

Washington had adopted four ways of handling marine rights and territorial disputes after World War II, namely international arbitration, consensus through dialogue and negotiation, abandoning small inconsequential islands and putting disputes on hold, Jia said, citing a study conducted with his students a few years ago.

Instead of using force, the Americans adopted the open-door policy to embrace the world, requesting other nations to open up their markets so that the U.S. could make use of talent, resources, markets, capital and skills from those countries to serve its own interests.

Jia advised the Beijing government to think about this strategy when tackling issues about marine rights.

Sino-U.S. relations had been seriously damaged by the administration of Donald Trump, the Chinese scholar said, and that put a big obstacle in the way of improving ties.

He advised the two countries to strengthen civil communication and dialogue, and to examine their own interests. By identifying common interests where cooperation could easily be achieved, they could build mutual trust for further cooperation.

On a call by incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden to prepare for strategic rivalry with China, Jia believed that he was referring to benign competition. He advised both countries to actively build up strategic high-tech interdependence rather than press ahead with decoupling.

Territorial and rights disputes surrounding the South China Sea involve both island and maritime claims by Brunei, mainland China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The ocean, spreading over an area as large as 100 Taiwans, has been found since the 1970s to contain rich natural resources in its seabed, including 23 billion tons of oil.

Its location is also of great strategic value, being the key link between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. As the world’s busiest transport route, it accounts for half of the international sea freight volume and a third of merchant ships sailing around the globe.

More than 30% of the global offshore crude oil trade passes through the South China Sea every day. It is the main trading route for Australia, China, India, the U.S. and Japan.

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