The Biden administration on Sunday upheld a Trump-era rejection of almost all of China’s vital maritime claims within the South China Sea. The administration additionally warned China that any assault on the Philippines within the flashpoint area would draw a US response beneath a mutual defence treaty.
The stern message from Secretary of State Antony Blinken got here in a press release launched forward of this week’s fifth anniversary of a global tribunal’s ruling in favour of the Philippines, in opposition to China’s maritime claims across the Spratly Islands and neighbouring reefs and shoals. China rejects the ruling.Ahead of the fourth anniversary of the ruling final yr, the Trump administration got here out in favour of the ruling but additionally stated it thought to be illegitimate nearly all Chinese maritime claims within the South China Sea exterior China’s internationally recognised waters. Sunday’s assertion reaffirms that place, which had been laid out by Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.“Nowhere is the rules-based maritime order under greater threat than in the South China Sea,” Blinken stated, utilizing language much like Pompeo’s. He accused China of continuous “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 stated, referring to Pompeo’s unique assertion. “We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke US mutual defence commitments.”Article IV of the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty obligates each international locations to come back to one another’s assist in case of an assault.Prior to Pompeo’s assertion, US coverage had been to insist that maritime disputes between China and its smaller neighbours be resolved peacefully via UN-backed arbitration. The shift didn’t apply to disputes over land options which might be above sea degree, that are thought of to be “territorial” in nature.Although the US continues to stay impartial in territorial disputes, it has successfully sided with the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, all of which oppose Chinese assertions of sovereignty over maritime areas surrounding contested South China Sea islands, reefs and shoals.China reacted angrily to the Trump administration’s announcement and is more likely to be equally peeved by the Biden administration’s choice to retain and reinforce it.“We call on (China) to abide by its obligations under international law, cease its provocative behaviour, 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,” Blinken stated within the assertion.China has rejected the tribunal’s choice, which it has dismissed as a “sham,” and has refused to take part in arbitration proceedings. It has continued to defy the choice with aggressive actions which have introduced it into territorial spats with Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia lately.As final yr’s assertion did, Sunday’s announcement got here amid heightened tensions between the US and China over quite a few points, together with the coronavirus pandemic, human rights, Chinese coverage in Hong Kong and Tibet and commerce, which have despatched relations plummeting.China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and routinely objects to any motion by the US navy within the area. Five different governments declare all or a part of the ocean, via which roughly $5 trillion in items are shipped yearly.China has sought to shore up its claims to the ocean by constructing navy bases on coral atolls, main the US to sail its warships via the area on what it calls freedom of operation missions. The United States has no claims itself to the waters however has deployed warships and plane for many years to patrol and promote freedom of navigation and overflight within the busy waterway.Read | Biden says China won’t surpass US as world chief on his watchRead | India helps freedom of navigation in int’l waterways like South China Sea: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh