Donald Trump: Joe Biden supported Donald Trump’s denial of China’s South China Sea claim

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The Biden administration on Sunday maintained a decline during the Trump administration in nearly all significant maritime claims in the South China Sea. The administration also warned China that any attack on the Philippines in the flashpoint region would elicit a US response under the defense agreement.

The stern message from Secretary of State Antony Blinken came in a statement released before the fifth anniversary of an international tribunal decision favoring the Philippines, against China’s maritime claims around of the Spratly Islands and nearby reefs and shoals. China rejects the decision.

Ahead of the fourth anniversary of the ruling last year, the Trump administration appeared in favor of the ruling but also said it considered illegal almost all Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea outside the waters recognized internationally by China. A statement on Sunday reaffirmed that position, laid down by Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.

“Nowhere is the maritime order rule -based order under greater threat than in the South China Sea,” Blinken said, using language similar to that of Pompeo. He accused China of continuing to “coerce and intimidate the coastal states of Southeast Asia, threatening freedom of navigation on this critical global route.”

“The United States ratified its policy on July 13, 2020 regarding sea lifts in the South China Sea,” he said, referring to Pompeo’s original statement. “We have also proved that an armed attack on the Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea will uphold U.S. defense commitments.

Article IV of the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty obligates both countries to assist each other in the event of an attack.

Prior to Pompeo’s statement, U.S. policy had insisted that maritime disputes between China and its smaller neighbors would be resolved peacefully through UN -supported arbitration. The move does not apply to disputes over land features above sea level, which are considered “territorial” in nature.

Although the U.S. has continued to remain neutral in territorial disputes, it has effectively sided with the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, all of which are opposed to Chinese claims of sovereignty in the maritime areas surrounding the islands of the South China Sea, reefs and shoals.

China reacted angrily to the Trump administration’s announcement and is likely to be similar to the Biden administration’s decision to keep and strengthen it.

“We call on (China) to comply with its obligations under international law, stop its provocative behavior, and take steps to ensure the international community that it is committed to maritime rule-based command. order that respects the rights of all nations, large and small, “Blinken said in the statement,

China rejected the tribunal’s decision, which it dismissed as a “sham,” and refused to participate in arbitration proceedings. It continues to oppose the decision through aggressive actions that have taken over the territories of Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia in recent years.

As said last year, Sunday’s announcement came amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China over a number of issues, including the coronavirus pandemic, human rights, Chinese policy in Hong Kong and Tibet and goods, which sent of relationships that plummet.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and regularly opposes any U.S. military action in the region. Five other governments own all or part of the sea, of which approximately $ 5 trillion in goods are shipped each year.

China has sought to establish its maritime claims by building military bases in coral atolls, leading the U.S. to sail its warships into the region on what it calls freedom of operation missions. The United States has no self-claim to water but has deployed warships and aircraft over decades to patrol and promote freedom of navigation and overflight on busy waterways.

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