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Why won’t the US, wary of China’s ambitions in the South China Sea, join a UN agreement on ocean rights?
- Senate resolution to ratify UN Convention on the Law of the Sea appears doubtful amid American culture wars despite enjoying some bipartisan support
- Even if US membership in Unclos could magically curb China’s maritime transgressions, ratification brings ‘significant costs’, analyst says
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Robert Delaneyin Washington
US President Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, a former Republican vice-presidential candidate-turned-right-wing firebrand, have never agreed on much. Same for Democratic senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, Hillary Clinton’s presidential running mate in 2016, and Bill Cassidy, his Republican colleague from Louisiana.
But when it comes to an international convention governing who has rights to what parts of the oceans – including critical minerals and other potential riches beneath the surface – these politicians have, at one time or another, been on the same page.
In the decades since most countries ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), China’s military presence throughout the Indo-Pacific has grown.
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Naval clashes between China and the Philippines, an American ally, have fuelled the ire of Democrats and Republicans against Beijing.
Serving as the basis for a key 2016 arbitral ruling against the Chinese government’s extensive claims in the South China Sea, Unclos has consistently had the US Navy’s full support.
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Yet the odds of a bipartisan US Senate resolution in the current congressional session to finally ratify the treaty appear slim, despite Unclos’ inclusion of principles long championed by the American government.
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