US urges China to stop '' routine harassment''
As the Philippines marks the seventh anniversary of its victory in an international court over China's ''expansive'' claims in the South China Sea, the US State Department urged Beijing to "cease its routine harassment" and to "end its interference with the freedoms of navigation and overflight of states lawfully operating in the region."
"We continue to urge Beijing to comport its maritime claims with international law as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention; cease its routine harassment of claimant state vessels lawfully operating in their respective exclusive economic zones; halt its disruption to states’ sovereign rights to explore, exploit, conserve, and manage natural resources; and end its interference with the freedoms of navigation and overflight of states lawfully operating in the region," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement posted on its website on July 11.
"Today marks the seventh anniversary of an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention firmly rejecting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) expansive South China Sea maritime claims, including any PRC claim to the area determined by the Arbitral Tribunal to be part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, as well as any resources therein," he said.
"Under the terms of the Convention, this ruling is final and legally binding on the Philippines and the PRC. The United States reaffirms its July 13, 2020, policy regarding maritime claims in the South China Sea," he added.
Miller said the US State Department "will continue working with allies and partners to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific, one that is at peace and grounded in respect for international law.''
In a forum in Makati on Wednesday, US Ambassador to the Philippines Marykay Carlson said "with the 2016 Arbitral Ruling, the Philippines secured a final and legally binding decision that validates the country’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf, in a ruling that found the PRC’s maritime claims and actions to enforce those claims in the South China Sea were inconsistent with international law."
Looking at the "geography to demographics to the economy" of Southeast Asia, Carlson said "what happens in the Philippines is critical to what happens in the Indo-Pacific and the world".
"Unfortunately, in the past few years we have seen increasing threats to the region. These include challenges to the rules-based international order via provocations in the South China Sea," she said.
Carlson said the South China Sea which "has become one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with total annual trade flowing through the South China Sea estimated to be more than three trillion US dollars" clearly "matters to all of us."
"The South China Sea basin is estimated to hold 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, at least some of which is near Palawan. More than half of the globe’s oil tankers and other raw materials pass through the South China Sea," she said.
"The South China Sea also accounts for 12 percent of the global fish catch, which is estimated to generate $100 billion annually or 5.5 trillion pesos, and which supports the livelihoods of 3.7 million people and the dietary requirements of millions more. The South China Sea is a key thoroughfare for undersea cables and is therefore pivotal for the continued secure flow of data," she added. Robina Asido/DMS
