Biden supports Trump’s rejection of China’s claims on the South China Sea

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Washington (AFP) – The Biden administration on Sunday backed the Trump-era rejection of all of China’s significant maritime claims in the South China Sea. The administration also warned China that an attack on the Philippines in the tension zone would trigger a US response under a mutual defense treaty.

The stern message came from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in a statement released ahead of this week’s fifth anniversary of an international court ruling in the Philippines’ favour, against China’s maritime claims over the Spratly Islands, reefs and adjacent shoals. China refuses to rule.

Ahead of the ruling’s fourth anniversary last year, the Trump administration backed the ruling but also said it considers nearly all of China’s maritime claims illegal in the South China Sea outside of China’s internationally recognized waters. Sunday’s statement reaffirms that position set by Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

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

“The United States reaffirms its policy on July 13, 2020, regarding maritime claims in the South China Sea,” he said, referring to Pompeo’s original statement. We also reaffirm that any armed attack on the Armed Forces of the Philippines, general ships, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke the United States’ joint defense commitments.

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

Prior to Pompeo’s statement, US policy had been to insist that maritime disputes between China and its smaller neighbors be resolved peacefully through UN-backed arbitration. This shift did not apply to disputes over the properties of land above sea level, which are considered to be of a “regional” nature.

Although the United States remains neutral in territorial disputes, it has effectively sided with the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, all of which oppose China’s assertions of sovereignty over the maritime areas surrounding the disputed South China Sea islands, reefs and shoals.

China reacted angrily to the Trump administration’s announcement and is likely to be similarly affected by the Biden administration’s decision to retain and strengthen it.

“We call on (China) to comply with its obligations under international law, cease its provocative behavior, and take steps to reassure the international community that it is committed to a rules-based maritime order that respects the rights of all countries, large and small,” Blinken said in the statement,

China rejected the court’s decision, which it called a “disgrace”, and refused to participate in the arbitration proceedings. It continued to defy the resolution with aggressive actions that led it to territorial disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia in recent years.

As did last year’s statement, Sunday’s announcement came amid heightened tensions between the United States and China over many issues, including the coronavirus pandemic, human rights, Chinese policy in Hong Kong and Tibet and trade, which have caused relations to deteriorate.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea and routinely objects to any action by the US military in the area. Five other governments claim all or part of the sea, through which nearly $5 trillion of goods are shipped each year.

China has sought to bolster its claims to the sea by building military bases on atolls, prompting the United States to sail its warships through the region in what it calls freedom of operations missions. The United States itself does not claim water but has deployed warships and aircraft for decades to patrol and promote freedom of navigation and overflight in the busy waterway.

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