The US Senate on July 10
adopted a resolution coded S.RES.412 on the East Sea, requesting China to
return immediately to the status quo as it existed before May 1, 2014.
 |
Vietnamese fishing boat DNa
90152 sunk by Chinese ships in Vietnam's waters
|
The resolution reaffirms “the strong support of
the United States Government for freedom of navigation and other
internationally lawful uses of sea and airspace in the Asia-Pacific region, and
for the peaceful diplomatic resolution of outstanding territorial and maritime
claims and disputes”.
It states that although the US is not a claimant
party in the East Sea but it is a longstanding Asia-Pacific power and has a
clear interest in encouraging and supporting the nations of the region to work
collaboratively and diplomatically to resolve disputes and is firmly opposed to
coercion, intimidation, threats, or the use of force.
It emphasises the vital importance of the
increasing frequency and assertiveness of patrols and competing regulations
over disputed territory and maritime areas and airspace in the East Sea (South
China Sea) and the East China Sea are raising tensions and increasing the risk
of confrontation.
Resolution S.RES.412 also lists a series of
China’s actions that violated international law, including the 1982 United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). On May 1, 2014, the People’s
Republic of China’s state-owned energy company, CNOOC, placed its deepwater
semi-submersible drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981, accompanied by over 25
Chinese ships, in Block 143, 120 nautical miles off Vietnam’s coastline.
Then the number of Chinese vessels escorting the
rig increased to more than 80, including seven military ships, which
aggressively patrolled and intimidated Vietnamese Coast Guard ships, reportedly
intentionally rammed multiple Vietnamese vessels, and used helicopters and
water cannons to obstruct others.
Vessels from the Maritime Safety Administration
of China (MSAC) established an exclusion zone with a radius of three nautical
miles around the rig.
According to the resolution, China’s territorial
claims and associated maritime actions in support of the drilling activity that
Haiyang Shiyou-981commenced on May 1, 2014, have not been clarified under
international law, including as defined by the 1982 UNCLOS, constitute a
unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force, and appear to be in
violation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduce of Parties in the East
Sea (DOC).
The Senate condemns coercive and threatening
actions or the use of force to impede freedom of operations and calls on the
Chinese Government to withdraw its drilling rig and associated maritime forces
from their current positions, and to return immediately to the status quo as it
existed before May 1, 2014, it says.
Relating to the tensions in the East China Sea,
the resolution criticises China’s unilateral declaration of an Air Defence
Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the Sea, considering it a violation of the
Chicago Convention of the International Civil Aviation Organisation that has
escalated tensions in China’s relations with regional countries like Japan and
the Republic of Korea.
Source: VNA
