US denounces China’s claims to South China Sea as ‘completely unlawful’

The Trump administration rejected China’s expansive claims within the South China Sea, reversing a earlier coverage of not taking sides in territorial disputes within the area and escalating tensions with Beijing on one more entrance.

“We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo stated in an announcement Monday.

In the previous, the US has referred to as for shielding “freedom of navigation” within the contested waterway whereas stopping wanting taking a place on particular territorial claims.

Intensification of the long-simmering maritime dispute provides to conflicts over points from commerce and expertise to cybersecurity and President Donald Trump’s efforts accountable China for the coronavirus pandemic that started there.

Most lately, the US had raised considerations over China’s choice to conduct navy workout routines within the contested waters across the Paracel Islands within the South China Sea. The Defense Department final week referred to as the actions “unlawful.”

In 2016, a United Nations tribunal sided with the Philippines in its argument that China’s claims of historic rights to the South China Sea — as a part of its so-called Nine Dash Line — don’t adjust to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. China’s assertions are based mostly on a 1947 map displaying imprecise dashes that cowl about 80% of the waterway. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan declare elements of the identical maritime space.

Stretching from China within the north to Indonesia within the south, the South China Sea encompasses 1.four million sq. miles (3.6 million sq. kilometers).

Beijing has rejected claims that it’s doing something out of the odd within the South China Sea and has not directly accused the U.S. of making an attempt to sow discord between China and Southeast Asian nations.