Will South China Sea’s rival claimants be emboldened by US policy shift?

Name: Washington’s hardened position on Beijing’s claims in South China Sea heightens US-China tensions
Uploaded: 2020-07-16T21:00:14.000Z
Duration: 2 min 32 s
Description: Washington’s hardened position on Beijing’s claims in South China Sea heightens US-China tensions

Washington’s tougher line on the contested waterway gives China’s neighbours some leverage in negotiations, observer says

But they are expected to carefully balance relations between the two superpowers to avoid getting caught in the middle

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

An aerial view of the Qilianyu Islands in the Paracel chain, which China claims. Tensions have been rising over the resource-rich South China Sea. Photo: AFP

Holly Chik

Published: 5:00am, 17 Jul 2020Updated: 11:21pm, 17 Jul 2020

Washington’s policy shift on the South China Sea could embolden Southeast Asian claimant states to take on China with legal action, observers say, after the US rejected most of Beijing’s claims in the strategic waterway as “unlawful” this week.

While avoiding being seen to be taking sides, some of China’s neighbours said in a statement after the US remarks that Beijing should follow international law in relation to the South China Sea.

Tensions over the resource-rich region have been rising, with both Southeast Asian nations and the United States saying China was to blame because of its infrastructure and military build-up there. The US, which is not a claimant state, has meanwhile stepped up its military presence, sending warships and aircraft to the disputed waters to keep tabs on China’s activities.

The situation escalated on Monday, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying the US formally opposed Chinese claims to waters within the so-called nine-dash line that encompasses almost all of the South China Sea – in line with a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal at The Hague.

David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, on Tuesday said the US could sanction Chinese officials and companies that pursued “illegal” claims in the South China Sea.

02:32

Washington’s hardened position on Beijing’s claims in South China Sea heightens US-China tensions

Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US, said Pompeo’s statement signalled that Washington would reinforce its support of the tribunal ruling and would “likely encourage other countries to more actively support the ruling as well”.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x

Will South China Sea’s rival claimants be emboldened by US policy shift?

Washington’s tougher line on the contested waterway gives China’s neighbours some leverage in negotiations, observer says But they are expected to carefully balance relations between the two superpowers to avoid getting caught in the middle

Washington’s tougher line on the contested waterway gives China’s neighbours some leverage in negotiations, observer says

But they are expected to carefully balance relations between the two superpowers to avoid getting caught in the middle