(Washington) US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo warned Monday that the United States considers China's land claims in the South China Sea to be “illegal”, adding to the pressure on Beijing.
Published on 13 July 2020 at 16 h 49
France Media Agency
“The United States defends the idea of a free and open indo-Pacific region. Today, we are strengthening US policy in a vital and disputed area of this region: the South China Sea, “said the US secretary of state in a statement.
“We are making it clear: Beijing's claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea are completely illegal, as is its intimidation campaign to control them,” added Mr. Pompeo.
He recalled that a court of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague had ruled in 2016 that China had no legal basis for claiming “Historic rights” in this area.
“The decision of the arbitral tribunal is final and it is enforceable for both parties”, he concluded. “The world will not allow China to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire.”
The United States has long rejected China's claims on almost all of the islets and reefs of the South China Sea facing neighboring countries (Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei).
At the beginning of July, the Pentagon denounced Chinese military exercises around the disputed archipelago of the Paracels, claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.
More than the Paracels, it is the Spratleys archipelago, further south, which crystallizes most of the regional maritime tensions: the claims of the various neighbors overlap there.
While the United States has hitherto refrained from taking a position in territorial disputes in this region, contenting itself with asserting “freedom of navigation” there, Mr. Pompeo has explicitly taken sides with the States bordering on China.
Thus, the Mischief and Second Thomas Shoal reefs “fall under the jurisdiction and sovereign rights of the Philippines”, in accordance with the judgment of 2016, he believes.