KUALA LUMPUR – The United States, Japan and the Philippines have “serious concerns” over China’s “dangerous and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea”, as well as “the militarisation of reclaimed features and unlawful maritime claims”.
In a joint statement by the three countries after a historic meeting in Washington, they slammed “the dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea, as well as efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation”.
“We reiterate serious concern over the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and the disruption of supply lines to Second Thomas Shoal (a remote reef in the Spratly Islands), which constitute dangerous and destabilising conduct.
“The final and legally binding July 12, 2016 Arbitral Tribunal determined that this feature lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, and we call on the PRC to abide by the ruling.”
US President Joe Biden also reaffirmed the “ironclad” commitments to Japan and the Philippines, amid repeated maritime confrontations with China that could lead to a wider conflict.
“Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defence treaty,” Biden said at the White House as he met Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The US and Japan will continue to support the Philippine Coast Guard in capacity building, including through Japan’s recent provision of twelve coast guard vessels and plans to provide five additional vessels to the Philippines.
Within the next year, the US Coast Guard also plans to conduct an at-sea trilateral exercise and other maritime activities in the Indo-Pacific to improve interoperability and advance maritime security and safety.
“We underscore our nations’ unwavering commitment to freedom of navigation and overflight, and the importance of respecting the sovereign rights of states within their exclusive economic zones consistent with international law, as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos),” according to the statement.
In response, Beijing Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the US and Japan had “attacked China on Taiwan and maritime issues, grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, and seriously violated the basic norms governing international relations”.
China’s sabre-rattling in the South China Sea and exerting its claim on Taiwan has prompted Biden to renew alliances in Southeast Asia.
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. – April 12, 2024