Panic in Asia as three-point plan emerges for China to complete South China Sea takeover

A top Chinese academic has unveiled a controversial three-point plan to end a decades-long row and secure control over the South China Sea.

Tensions in the region have hit an all-time high as Beijing ramped up its hostile behaviour towards The Philippines, one of several countries also claiming part of the large body of water as its own.

Experts across China have been intensifying their efforts to justify the PRC's claims over the South China Sea – with an expert now outlining his plan to secure full control of the area.

Academic Wu Shichun, the founder of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Hainan, said it is pivotal for China to construct the right "narrative" to assert its power.

In a controversial three-point plan, Wu argued that Beijing would, first of all, need to "diplomatically set a timeline for the Philippines to withdraw from the Second Thomas Shoal". 

The shoal is one of several areas of the South China Sea that the PRC claims control over.

Over the past year, it has been at the centre of multiple clashes, both verbal and physical, with Manila.

The academic then suggested Beijing should proceed to implement measures to "prevent and block the Philippines from engaging in provocative and status quo-altering activities," should Manila's forces refuse to abandon the shoal.

Wu argued a prolonged blockade would likely plunge Filipino troops into a "survival crisis," which would lead to the third point of his plan – the establishment of a "special corridor" to evacuate soldiers before securing control of the shoal.

Analysts at the Indian think tank Geostrata noted that "the plan assumes that this withdrawal will lead to the end of the cat-and-mouse game".

However, there are concerns the strategy could only escalate tensions further and plunge the region into a new conflict.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage but hostilities have particularly flared between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces.

Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships, and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

Manila this week hit Beijing with a new complaint after PRC jets fired a volley of flares in the path of a Filipino patrol plane.

The hostile conduct and tones prompted The Philippines to also issue a warning that a current arrangement to avoid confrontations with China near the shoal could be reviewed.