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JULY 13, 2020 U.S. Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea
U.S. Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea PRESS STATEMENT MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 13, 2020 https://www.state.gov/u-s-position-on-maritime-claims-in-the-south-china-sea/ The United States champions a free and open Indo-Pacific. Today we are strengthening U.S. policy in a vital, contentious part of that region — the South China Sea. We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them. In the South China Sea, we seek to preserve peace and stability, uphold freedom of the seas in a manner consistent with international law, maintain the unimpeded flow of commerce, and oppose any attempt to use coercion or force to settle disputes. We share these deep and abiding interests with our many allies and partners who have long endorsed a rules-based international order. These shared interests have come under unprecedented threat from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the South China Sea, bully them out of offshore resources, assert unilateral dominion, and replace international law with “might makes right.” Beijing’s approach has been clear for years. In 2010, then-PRC Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told his ASEAN counterparts that “China is a big country and other countries are small countries and that is just a fact.” The PRC’s predatory world view has no place in the 21st century. The PRC has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region. Beijing has offered no coherent legal basis for its “Nine-Dashed Line” claim in the South China Sea since formally announcing it in 2009. In a unanimous decision on July 12, 2016, an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention – to which the PRC is a state party – rejected the PRC’s maritime claims as having no basis in international law. The Tribunal sided squarely with the Philippines, which brought the arbitration case, on almost all claims. As the United States has previously stated, and as specifically provided in the Convention, the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision is final and legally binding on both parties. Today we are aligning the U.S. position on the PRC’s maritime claims in the SCS with the Tribunal’s decision. Specifically:
The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire. America stands with our Southeast Asian allies and partners in protecting their sovereign rights to offshore resources, consistent with their rights and obligations under international law. We stand with the international community in defense of freedom of the seas and respect for sovereignty and reject any push to impose “might makes right” in the South China Sea or the wider region. |
21 July 2020 Australian Defence Force
Australia, Japan and US exercise in Philippine Sea21 July 2020Australia, Japan and the US are currently conducting a trilateral passage in the Philippine Sea on the way to participate in Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) in Hawaii. An Australian Defence Force (ADF) Joint Task Group has joined the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which includes the United States Navy’s guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam and guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Akizuki-class destroyer JS Teruzuki. With HMA Ships Canberra, Hobart, Stuart, Arunta and Sirius taking part, the activity includes replenishment at sea, aviation operations, maritime manoeuvres and communications drills. Commander of the Australian Joint Task Group, Commodore Michael Harris, said the opportunity to work alongside Japan and the US was invaluable. “Maintaining security and safety at sea requires navies to be able to cooperate seamlessly,” Commodore Harris said. “The combined activities between our navies demonstrates a high degree of interoperability and capability between Australia, Japan and the US.” Captain Sakano Yusuke, Commander of Japan’s Escort Division 4, said strengthening cooperation with the US Navy and Royal Australian Navy is vitally important for Japan and contributes to a free and open Indo-Pacific region. “The experience in this exercise will give us tactical and operational advantages and make our friendships stronger, in addition to our regular joint exercises with both like-minded navies,” Captain Sakano said. US Navy Captain Russ Caldwell, Commanding Officer USS Antietam, said the US Navy routinely exercised with regional partners, showing their shared commitment to regional stability and a free and open Indo-Pacific. “The relationships we've developed enable us to meet at sea and immediately operate at an advanced level. This highlights the enduring nature of our alliances with Japan and Australia,” Captain Caldwell said. "The United States is fortunate to routinely operate alongside its allies across the Indo-Pacific and coordinated operations like these reinforce our mutual commitment to international maritime norms and promoting regional stability.” The trilateral passage is planned to conclude on 23 July 2020. The Joint Task Group left Darwin on 5 July 2020 to begin a regional deployment to Southeast Asia and Hawaii. The deployment demonstrates Australia’s enduring commitment to enhancing security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and increasing the capability and interoperability of the ADF. Imagery will be available at: https://images.defence.gov.au/s20202321
Media contacts Issued by Ministerial and Executive Coordination and Communication, |
20 Apr 2020 Vietnam protests Beijing's expansion in disputed South China Sea as world remains occupied with coronavirus
Vietnam protests Beijing's expansion in disputed South China Sea as world remains occupied with coronavirus Posted 20 Apr 2020
China is becoming resurgent in the disputed South China Sea area (file photo).(AP: Li Gang) Share
China has bolstered its presence in the South China Sea by setting up two administrative bodies on islands in the disputed water, dubbed "its youngest city". Key points: Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, directly challenging the territorial claims of its neighbours — the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia. China has recently been pushing its presence in the energy-rich waters while other claimants are pre-occupied with tackling the coronavirus pandemic, prompting the United States to call on China to stop its "bullying behaviour" there. On Saturday, Beijing said it had established an administrative district on the Paracel islands and another on the Spratly islands. The two districts are under the control of China's Sansha city, according to China Global Television Network.
Chinese dredging vessels are seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.(Reuters/US Navy) "As one of the youngest cities in China, Sansha city was established ... to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea," the official Chinese Military website states. It adds that Sansha city only has around 1,800 permanent residents, with the smallest land area and population in China. "The establishment of the so-called Sansha city and related activities seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty," Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement. "Vietnam demands that China respect Vietnam's sovereignty and abolish its wrongful decisions." A Chinese government survey ship was seen earlier this week tagging an exploration vessel operated by Malaysia's state oil company Petronas in the disputed waters, and remained offshore of Malaysia as of Sunday.
The competing territory claims in the South China Sea.(ABC News: Illustration/Jarrod Fankhauser) Earlier this month, Vietnam lodged an official protest with China after the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat it said had been rammed by a China Coast Guard vessel near the Paracels. Last year, on a state visit to Vietnam, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison took a thinly-veiled swipe at Beijing's aggression in the South China Sea. Mr Morrison used a speech he gave in Hanoi to emphasise the importance of an "open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific neighbourhood". In 2016, an international court found China had no legal basis to claim historical rights in South China Sea. Reuters |
23 Oct 2018 VOAnews: South China Sea Code of Conduct Gains Momentum as China Moves to Complete Militarization
source VOAnews: October 22, 2018 2:06 PMSTATE DEPARTMENT — As China moves to complete the creation of military outposts in the South China Sea, Beijing’s negotiation with southeastern Asian nations over a binding code of conduct is gaining momentum. But U.S. officials and experts warn China’s insertions in the draft South China Sea code of conduct may put Washington and Beijing on a collision course. The text of the draft also shows that deep divisions remain among claimants. One of the Chinese provisions in the text states, “The Parties shall not hold joint military exercises with countries from outside the region, unless the parties concerned are notified beforehand and express no objection.” China also proposed cooperation on the marine economy “shall not be conducted in cooperation with companies from countries outside the region.” A State Department spokesperson told VOA the United States is concerned by reports China has been pressing members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations “in the closed-door talks, to accept restrictions on their ability to conduct exercises with security partners, and to agree not to conduct oil and gas exploration in their claimed waters with energy firms based in countries which are not part of the ongoing negotiations.” “These proposals, if accepted, would limit the ability of ASEAN nations to conduct sovereign, independent foreign and economic policies and would directly harm the interests of the broader international community,” added the State Department spokesperson. Competing for influence For China, the benefits are apparent. The United States and China are competing for influence in the Indo-Pacific region. China and Southeast Asian navies are heading to their first joint exercises from October 22 to 28. An inaugural ASEAN-U.S. maritime exercise will be held next year. “In other words, China would like a veto over all the military exercises held by ASEAN countries with other nations. I think this really provides some evidence that China indeed is trying to limit American influence in the region, one might go so far as to say to push American military presence out of the region eventually, but certainly in the area of the South China Sea,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. While the United States is not a claimant to the sovereignty of disputed islands in the South China Sea, Washington has said China's efforts to militarize outposts in the contested waters endanger the free flow of trade and undermine regional stability, a claim Beijing rebuts. The United States is also calling for ongoing discussions on the South China Sea code of conduct to be transparent and consultative with the rest of the international community. U.S. officials said the international community has direct stakes in the outcome. Code of conduct draft In August, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan announced China and ASEAN’s 10 member countries had reached a draft agreement. (Single Draft South China Sea Code of Conduct Negotiating Text or SDNT). ASEAN leaders are to meet next month in Singapore. Highlighting the importance of such a draft, a Center for Strategic and International Studies report said for the first time in many years, an effective diplomatic process to manage South China Sea disputes seems possible. ASEAN and China have been discussing a potential code of conduct (COC) to manage the South China Sea maritime and territorial disputes for more than two decades. Leaked details of the draft state the code of conduct is “not an instrument to settle territorial disputes or maritime delimitation issues.” Managing disputes The draft shows deep divisions among South China Sea claimants over many issues, according to experts, especially over the most sensitive issues like the agreement’s geographic scope, potential dispute settlement mechanisms, and details of resource exploration. “What the code of conduct is intended to do is to manage the disputes to prevent them from escalating, and basically to allow the freezing of the thorny territorial questions, while states can manage the resources and manage tensions in the near to medium term,” said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative” at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In August a trilateral statement from Japan, Australia and the United States called for the Code of Conduct “to not prejudice the interests of third parties or the rights of all states under international law; to reinforce existing regional architecture; and to strengthen parties’ commitments to cease actions that would complicate or escalate disputes.” Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Amy Searight said Washington’s “concrete position” on no prejudice against third parties “is to really criticize China's attempt to marginalize U.S. influences” in the region. |
23 Oct 2018 Express.co.uk: UK vows to support for its Pacific allies
3 Oct 2018 theguardian.com China's 'aggressive tactics'
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JUNE 6, 2017 Pentagon: Beijing Is Arming Its Manmade Islands in South China Sea
BY MARCUS WEISGERBER Source: Defenseone.com  An airstrip, structures and buildings on China's manmade Subi Reef in the Spratly chain of islands in the South China Sea in April 2017. With its reef expansion apparently finishing up, China is working to extend the reach of its military power. China is outfitting its manmade island outposts in the South China Sea with warplane hangars and weapons, the Pentagon said Tuesday in its annual assessment of Beijing’s military. Once finished, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force intends to base three regiments of warplanes there, says the report, which was “generated” on May 15 and released to the public today. “Although its land reclamation and artificial islands do not strengthen China’s territorial claims as a legal matter or create any new territorial sea entitlements, China will be able to use its reclaimed features as persistent civil-military bases to enhance its presence in the South China Sea and improve China’s ability to control the features and nearby maritime space,” the report says. Last year’s edition of the China-power report noted Beijing had completed its reclamation work on the islands. Think tanks and news organizations have previously reported the missile deployments and hangar construction, however this is the first time they have appeared in the Pentagon’s annual China report. “China’s actions in the South China Sea in 2016, particularly its construction of airfields and other infrastructure on features in the Spratly Islands, enhanced China’s ability to control disputed areas in the South China Sea and caused regional concern over China’s longterm intentions,” the report states. China has stopped expanding the reefs and is now working to add military infrastructure to them, the report states. New installations include airfields with runways of at least 8,800 feet, water and fuel storage, large port facilities, 24 fighter-sized hangars, communications facilities, fixed-weapons positions, barracks and administration buildings. In March, the Center for Strategic and International Studies — a Washington think tank that has tracked the island expansion — said China was finishing up construction of the islands. “China’s three air bases in the Spratlys and another on Woody Island in the Paracels will allow Chinese military aircraft to operate over nearly the entire South China Sea,” it said. “The same is true of China’s radar coverage, made possible by advanced surveillance/early-warning radar facilities at Fiery Cross, Subi, and Cuarteron Reefs, as well as Woody Island, and smaller facilities elsewhere.” Meanwhile, China could soon have new, advanced warplanes to base on those faux islands. Two new stealth fighters — the J-20 and FC-31 — could be battle-ready as soon as next year, the Pentagon states. Last July, The Hague international tribunal rejected China’s claims in the South China Sea, including a claim to historical ownership of the region. In turn, the Chinese government rejectedthe ruling, with state media claiming that, “The Chinese government and the Chinese people firmly oppose it and will neither acknowledge it nor accept it.” The U.S. has also has refused to recognize the claims, and has sending military ships and aircraft near them in what it calls freedom-of-navigation operations — most recently last month. William Morris IV contributed to this report. |
AOL Mar 13th 2017 8:41AM
Japan to send largest warship to South China Sea TIM KELLY AND NOBUHIRO KUBO TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) - Japan plans to dispatch its largest warship on a three-month tour through the South China Sea beginning in May, three sources said, in its biggest show of naval force in the region since World War Two. China claims almost all the disputed waters and its growing military presence has fueled concern in Japan and the West, with the United States holding regular air and naval patrols to ensure freedom of navigation. The Izumo helicopter carrier, commissioned only two years ago, will make stops in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka before joining the Malabar joint naval exercise with Indian and U.S. naval vessels in the Indian Ocean in July. It will return to Japan in August, the sources said. "The aim is to test the capability of the Izumo by sending it out on an extended mission," said one of the sources who have knowledge of the plan. "It will train with the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea," he added, asking not to be identified because he is not authorized to talk to the media. A spokesman for Japan's Maritime Self Defence Force declined to comment. Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the sea which has rich fishing grounds, oil and gas deposits and through which around $5 trillion of global sea-borne trade passes each year. Japan does not have any claim to the waters, but has a separate maritime dispute with China in the East China Sea. Japan wants to invite Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has pushed ties with China in recent months as he has criticized the old alliance with the United States, to visit the Izumo when it visits Subic Bay, about 100 km (62 miles) west of Manila, another of the sources said. Asked during a news conference about his view on the warship visit, Duterte said, without elaborating, "I have invited all of them." He added: "It is international passage, the South China Sea is not our territory, but it is part of our entitlement." On whether he would visit the warship at Subic Bay, Duterte said: "If I have time." Japan's flag-flying operation comes as the United States under President Donald Trump appears to be taking a tougher line with China. Washington has criticized China's construction of man-made islands and a build-up of military facilities that it worries could be used to restrict free movement. Beijing in January said it had "irrefutable" sovereignty over the disputed islands after the White House vowed to defend "international territories." The 249 meter-long (816.93 ft) Izumo is as large as Japan's World War Two-era carriers and can operate up to nine helicopters. It resembles the amphibious assault carriers used by U.S. Marines, but lacks their well deck for launching landing craft and other vessels. Japan in recent years, particularly under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has been stretching the limits of its post-war, pacifist constitution. It has designated the Izumo as a destroyer because the constitution forbids the acquisition of offensive weapons. The vessel, nonetheless, allows Japan to project military power well beyond its territory. Based in Yokosuka, near to Tokyo, which is also home to the U.S. Seventh Fleet's carrier, the Ronald Reagan, the Izumo's primary mission is anti-submarine warfare. |
Reuters: Fri Mar 17, 2017 | 4:35pm EDT
China to build on disputed shoal in South China Sea Boats at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea are shown in this handout photo provided by Planet Labs, and captured on March 12, 2016. REUTERS/Planet Labs/Handout via Reuters China will begin preparatory work this year for an environmental monitoring station on Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, an official said, as two U.S. senators introduced a bill to impose sanctions on its activities in the disputed waterway. China seized the strategic shoal, which is also claimed by the Philippines, in 2012 and the United States has warned Beijing against carrying out the same land reclamation work there that it has done in other parts of the South China Sea. This week, Xiao Jie, the mayor of what Beijing calls Sansha City, an administrative base for disputed South China Sea islands and reefs it controls, said China planned preparatory work this year to build environmental monitoring stations on a number of islands, including Scarborough Shoal. The monitoring stations, along with docks and other infrastructure, form part of island restoration and erosion prevention efforts planned for 2017, Xiao told the official Hainan Daily. The report comes ahead of a visit to Beijing at the weekend by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, where he is expected to reiterate U.S. concern about Chinese island building. Tillerson has called the activity "illegal" and last June, then U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned that any move by China to reclaim land at Scarborough Shoal would "result in actions being taken by the both United States and ... by others in the region which would have the effect of not only increasing tensions, but isolating China." A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, Anna Richey-Allen, said it was aware of the Chinese report and reiterated a call on South China Sea claimants to avoid building on disputed features. The Philippine foreign ministry declined to comment, saying it was trying to verify the reports. Washington stresses the importance of free navigation in South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of trade passes each year. China claims nearly all of the sea and Washington is concerned its island-building is aimed at denying access to the waters. This week, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin introduced the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, which would ban visas for Chinese people helping to build South and East China Sea projects. It would also sanction foreign financial bodies that "knowingly conduct or facilitate a significant financial transaction for sanctioned individuals and entities" if China steps up activity at Scarborough Shoal, among other actions. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called the bill "extremely grating" and said it showed the "arrogance and ignorance" of the senators. Bonnie Glazer, an Asia expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said it was unclear if China planned dredging work at Scarborough Shoal, something that could wreck efforts to agree a code of conduct for the region that Beijing professes to support. She noted that parties to a 2002 declaration of conduct had agreed to refrain from inhabiting uninhabited features. During his January confirmation hearing, Tillerson said China should be denied access to islands it has built up in the South China Sea. He subsequently softened his language, saying that in the event of an unspecified "contingency," the United States and its allies "must be capable of limiting China's access to and use of" those islands to pose a threat. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Christian Shepherd; Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato in Manila and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and James Dalgleish) |
abc.net.au: 18 Nov 2016
South China Sea: Vietnam expanding runway on Spratly Island, US think tank saysFri at 10:53pm: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-18/vietnam-expanding-south-china-sea-runway/8037248 Vietnam is extending a runway on an island it claims in the South China Sea in apparent response to China's building of military facilities on artificial islands in the region, according to a US think tank. Satellite images taken this month showed Vietnam had lengthened its runway on Spratly Island from less than 760 metres to more than 1 kilometre, Washington's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative reported.
AMTI, a project of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said continued reclamation work would likely mean the runway was extended to more than 1.2 km. It said the upgraded runway would be able to accommodate maritime surveillance aircraft and transport planes, as well as combat aircraft. The report said Vietnam had added about 23 hectares of land to Spratly Island in recent years, but its reclamation work remained modest by Chinese standards. China has built military-length runways on three artificial islands it has built up in the South China Sea since 2013. The United States, which has criticised China's reclamation work in the South China Sea and stepped up defence cooperation with Vietnam in response, said it was aware of the reports that Hanoi had upgraded some of its facilities on outposts in the Spratly Islands. "We encourage all claimants to take steps to lower tensions and peacefully resolve differences," Anna Richey-Allen, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, said. Reuters recently reported that Vietnam had discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and military installations across the vital trade route. Military analysts said the deployment of the launchers was the most significant defensive move Vietnam has made on its holdings in the South China Sea in decades and it underscored Hanoi's concerns about China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims in the disputed region. |
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