US will continue freedom of navigation ops in South China Sea despite China protests – Amb. Kim

Defying Chinese calls to keep out of the South China Sea, Washington’s top diplomat to Manila on Thursday said the US will continue to conduct freedom of navigation operations in the disputed waters “to protect important international rights for everybody, including the Philippines.”

US Ambassador Sung Kim said the US is concerned over China’s recent unilateral actions in the waters, which suggest “that they are moving towards militarization.”

“We are concerned. I think we are concerned anytime a claimant, including China, takes aggressive unilateral actions towards militarization, which is clear what they have done and I saw the report,” Kim told journalists at the US Embassy in Manila.

China is accused of militarizing the South China Sea after it was reported that it has installed missiles and radars on artificial islands it built on the waters. It also reportedly sent Chinese military vessels in one of the Philippine-claimed features, called the Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef), that it now controls.

Beijing dismissed The Hague tribunal’s decision on a case filed by the Philippines that invalidated its virtual claim over nearly the entire waters in July 2016.  It also refused to participate in the proceedings, which was done under the auspices of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea both signed by the Philippines and China.

The South China Sea is a vital sealane where oil and natural gas have been discovered in several areas. China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are asserting ownership over the waters in part or in whole.

“We have called on countries to refrain from reclamation and militarization of the reclaimed land and we will continue to do so,” Kim said as he stressed that “it is very important for us to be present” in the South China Sea.

Kim said the recent US warship visits to the Philippines, which includes aircraft carriers, USS Carl Vinson and USS Theodore, Roosevelt, as well as the USS amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, are “directly relevant to the situation that we have in the South China Sea.”

“Not only does our presence through visits...demonstrate our commitment to Philippines-US alliance to the region and also to doing everything we can to protect freedom of navigation and overflight, commerce, which are not only important rights to the US but important rights for everybody including the Philippines. So we’ll continue whatever we can to protect those rights,” he said.

Although the US is not a party to the disputes, it has repeatedly declared that it is in its national interest to ensure freedom of navigation, trade and peace and stability in the South China Sea, where a bulk of the world’s trade passes through.

Despite China’s warnings, Kim underscored the importance of refraining from unilateral aggressive actions that are inconsistent with the international law and norms.

He said it is important for all claimants to refrain from reclamation and militarization of reclaimed lands and to uphold the rules-based order.

Kim also welcomed the ASEAN and China’s ongoing efforts to hammer out a code of conduct in the South China Sea which is aimed at preventing conflicting territorial claims from erupting into violent confrontations or worse, an economically-devastating major conflict.

The US envoy stopped short of saying that the US backs a legally-binding code of conduct but pointed out that he is unsure how “a vague and ambiguous document that is not binding would do in terms of helping the claimants resolve an obviously very complex situation.”

“I am cautious about commenting on specific elements that we would like to see but I think it would be in the interest of all parties to have a detailed and meaningful document that helps the parties, that guides parties towards the peaceful resolution of the disputes,” Kim said. — RSJ, GMA News