Dharamshala, 13th July: On Sunday, the Biden administration endorsed the Trump administration’s rejection of nearly all of China’s important maritime claims in the South China Sea. The administration also warned China that any attack on the Philippines in the hotspot region would be met with a U.S. response under the terms of a mutual defense pact. The severe message came from Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement issued ahead of the fifth anniversary of an international tribunal judgment in favor of the Philippines against China’s maritime claims around the Spratly Islands and nearby reefs and shoals. China opposes the ruling.
Prior to the ruling’s fourth anniversary last year, the Trump administration expressed support for it while also declaring that practically all Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea outside of China’s internationally recognized waters were invalid. The statement issued on Sunday supports Trump’s view, which was previously stated by Pompeo, Trump’s secretary of state.
“Nowhere is the rules-based maritime order under greater threat than in the South China Sea,” Blinken said, using language similar to Pompeo’s. He accused China of continuing “to coerce and intimidate Southeast Asian coastal states, threatening freedom of navigation in this critical global throughway. The United States reaffirms its July 13, 2020 policy regarding maritime claims in the South China Sea,” he said, referring to Pompeo’s original statement. “We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments.”
Article IV of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines obligates both countries to come to each other’s help in the event of an attack. Prior to Pompeo’s statement, US policy had been to insist on peaceful resolution of maritime disputes between China and its smaller neighbors through U.N.-backed arbitration. The change did not apply to conflicts over land features above sea level that are considered “territorial” in character.
Although the United States has remained neutral in territorial disputes, it has effectively sided with the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, all of which oppose Chinese claims to sovereignty over marine areas encompassing contested South China Sea islands, reefs, and shoals. China was outraged by the Trump administration’s statement and is sure to be outraged by the Biden administration’s choice to keep and strengthen it.
“We call on (China) to abide by its obligations under international law, cease its provocative behavior, and take steps to reassure the international community that it is committed to the rules-based maritime order that respects the rights of all countries, big and small,” According to Blinken’s statement,
China has rejected the tribunal’s judgment, calling it a “sham” and refusing to join in arbitration procedures. It has proceeded to reject the decision with aggressive acts, resulting in territorial disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia in recent years. As with last year’s speech, Sunday’s announcement came amid rising tensions between the United States and China over a variety of topics, including the coronavirus outbreak, human rights, Chinese policy in Hong Kong and Tibet, and trade, which have strained relations.
China claims practically the entire South China Sea and constantly protests any US military operations in the region. Five additional governments claim all or part of the sea, which transports nearly $5 trillion in products each year. China has moved to strengthen its claims to the sea by constructing military sites on coral atolls, prompting the United States to sail its warships through the region on so-called freedom of operational missions. Although the US makes no claims to the seas, it has deployed warships and planes for decades to police and encourage freedom of navigation and overflight in the major waterway.
Image Source: apnews
Leave a Reply