Washington: On Sunday, the Biden administration upheld a Trump-era rejection of nearly all of China’s important maritime claims in the South China Sea. Furthermore, the administration warned China that if the Philippines are attacked in the flashpoint region, the U.S. would strike back.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s stern message came ahead of this week’s fifth anniversary of a tribunal ruling in favor of the Philippines against China’s maritime claims around the Spratly Islands and adjacent reefs and shoals. The ruling is rejected by China.
On the fourth anniversary of the ruling, the Trump administration came out in support of it, but also said virtually all Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea outside of China’s internationally recognized waters were illegitimate. Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, reaffirmed that position in a statement that was issued on Sunday.
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‘Nowhere is the rules-based maritime order under greater threat than in the South China Sea,’ Blinken said, using similar language to Pompeo’s. According to him, China still continues ‘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 explained, referring to Pompeo’s 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.’
Under Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, both countries are obligated to assist each other in the event of an attack.
Before Pompeo’s statement, the White House had advocated peaceful resolution of disputes between China and its smaller neighbors through United Nations-backed arbitration. The shift does not apply to disputes over land features that are above sea level, which are considered ‘territorial’ in nature.
Even though the U.S. remains neutral in territorial disputes, it has sided with the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, all of which oppose Chinese claims of sovereignty over disputed South China Sea islands, reefs and shoals.
China reacted angrily to the Trump administration’s announcement, and it is likely to be equally miffed by the Biden administration’s decision to maintain and reinforce the policy.
‘We call on (China) to abide by its international law obligations, stop its provocative behavior, and take steps to indicate that it is committed to rules-based maritime order that respects the rights of all nations, large and small,’ Blinken said in the statement.
China has rejected the tribunal’s decision, calling it a ‘sham,’ and has refused to take part in arbitration. In recent years, it has continued to defy the decision and has engaged in territorial spats with Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.
As with last year’s announcement, Sunday’s announcement came amid heightened tension between the U.S. and China, including the Coronavirus pandemic, human rights, Chinese policy in Hong Kong and Tibet, and trade, which have sent relations tumbling.
U.S. military actions in the region are routinely rebuffed by China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea. Five other countries claim all or part of the sea, through which $5 trillion worth of goods are shipped every year.
China has built military bases on coral atolls to bolster its claims to the sea, leading the U.S. to send its warships to the region on what it calls freedom of operational missions. Since the United States has no claim to these waters, it has deployed warships and aircraft to patrol and promote freedom of navigation and overflight on the busy waterway.
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