Thread by @AndrewSErickson

#FullText of Press Statement by @SecPompeo @StateDept, “U.S. Position on #Maritime Claims in the #SouthChinaSea,” 13 July 2020:

bit.ly/SecPompeoSCS

"The United States champions a free & open Indo-Pacific. ..."

andrewerickson.com/2020/07/secret…

(Maps from @NavalInstitute @USNIBooks)

"Today we are strengthening U.S. policy in a vital, contentious part of that region — the #SouthChinaSea. 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."

"In the #SouthChinaSea, we seek to preserve peace and stability, uphold #freedom of the #seas in a manner consistent with international #law, maintain the unimpeded flow of #commerce, and oppose any attempt to use coercion or force to settle disputes."

bit.ly/SecPompeoSCS

"We share these deep & abiding interests w our many allies and partners who have long endorsed a rules-based international order.
bit.ly/SecPompeoSCS
These shared interests have come under unprecedented threat from the People’s Republic of China (PRC)"
andrewerickson.com/2020/07/secret…

"Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the #SouthChinaSea, bully them out of offshore resources, assert unilateral dominion, & replace international law w 'might makes right.'"
FURTHER INFORMATION: amazon.com/Maritime-Opera…

"Beijing’s approach has been clear for years. In 2010, then-PRC Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told his ASEAN counterparts that '#China is a big country & other countries are small countries and that is just a fact.' The PRC’s predatory world view has no place in the 21st century."

"The #PRC has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region. Beijing has offered no coherent legal basis for its '#NineDashedLine' claim in the #SouthChinaSea since formally announcing it in 2009. In a unanimous decision on July 12, 2016, an #ArbitralTribunal..."

"...constituted under the 1982 #Law of the #Sea Convention—to which the PRC is a state party—rejected the #PRC’s maritime claims as having no basis in international law. The Tribunal sided squarely with the #Philippines, which brought the arbitration case, on almost all claims."

"As the US has previously stated, & as specifically provided in the Convention, the #ArbitralTribunal’s decision is final & legally binding on both parties. Today we are aligning the US position on the PRC’s maritime claims in the #SCS with the Tribunal’s decision. Specifically:"

"The #PRC cannot lawfully assert a maritime claim – including any Exclusive Economic Zone (#EEZ) claims derived from #ScarboroughReef & the #SpratlyIslands – vis-a-vis the #Philippines in areas that the Tribunal found to be in the Philippines’ EEZ or on its continental shelf."

"Beijing’s #harassment of Philippine fisheries & offshore energy development within those areas is unlawful, as are any unilateral PRC actions to exploit those resources. In line with the Tribunal’s legally binding decision, the PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim..."

"...to #MischiefReef or #SecondThomasShoal, both of which fall fully under the #Philippines’ sovereign rights & jurisdiction, nor does Beijing have any #territorial or #maritime claims generated from these features."

bit.ly/SecPompeoSCS

BACKGROUND: andrewerickson.com/2020/04/the-ch…

"As Beijing has failed to put forth a lawful, coherent maritime claim in the #SouthChinaSea, the US rejects any PRC claim to waters beyond a 12-nautical mile territorial sea derived from islands it claims in the Spratly Islands (without prejudice to other states’ sovereignty..."

"...claims over such islands). As such, the US rejects any #PRC #maritime claim in the waters surrounding #VanguardBank (off #Vietnam), #LuconiaShoals (off #Malaysia), waters in #Brunei’s #EEZ, & #NatunaBesar (off #Indonesia)."

bit.ly/SecPompeoSCS

andrewerickson.com/2020/07/secret…

"Any PRC action to harass other states’ fishing or hydrocarbon dev’t in these waters—or to carry out such activities unilaterally—is unlawful."

INFO ON CHINA’S HARASSMENT W/ #COASTGUARD & #MARITIMEMILITIA:
amazon.com/Maritime-Opera…

andrewerickson.com/2020/04/the-ch…

andrewerickson.com/2019/02/chinas…

"#PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to (or derived from) #JamesShoal, an entirely #submerged feature only 50 n.miles from Malaysia & some 1,000 NM from China’s coast. James Shoal is often cited in PRC propaganda as the 'southernmost territory of China.'" #UNDERWATER

"Int'l law is clear: An #underwater feature like #JamesShoal cannot be claimed by any state & is incapable of generating maritime zones. James Shoal (roughly 20 meters below the surface) is not & never was PRC territory, nor can Beijing assert any lawful maritime rights from it."

"The world will not allow Beijing to treat the #SouthChinaSea as its #MaritimeEmpire.

America stands with our Southeast Asian allies & partners in protecting their sovereign rights to offshore resources, consistent with their rights & obligations under international law."

.@SecPompeo:

"We stand with the international community in defense of #FreedomOfTheSeas & respect for sovereignty & reject any push to impose 'might makes right' in the #SouthChinaSea or the wider region."

bit.ly/SecPompeoSCS

andrewerickson.com/2020/07/secret…

#NoMaritimeEmpire