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U.S. Accuses China of Using Force to Expand Territory in South China Sea

Daniel Kim Views  

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A joint naval and air force exercise conducted by the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines in the South China Sea on July 7/EPA Yonhap News

The United States has strongly criticized China, which conflicts with some countries, including the Philippines, over sovereignty in the South China Sea, accusing it of trying to secure territory through force.

According to Reuters on the 10th, the previous day, Commander John Aquilino of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command criticized China in a speech at a think tank in Sydney, Australia. Commander Aquilino said that China’s actions in the recent clashes between China and the Philippines in the Second Thomas Shoal (Chinese name: Lunaijiao; Filipino name: Ayungin) area are “dangerous, illegal, and destabilizing the region.”

The clashes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have escalated since last year. Commander Aquilino expressed “great concern” about the recent injury of six Filipino sailors due to the water cannon fire by the Chinese side and added that similar actions by China have been detected in other regions, including Japan and Malaysia. He criticized this as “China trying to secure territory through force unilaterally.”

China has claimed about 90% of the area inside the nine-dashed line, a U-shaped line drawn in the South China Sea, as its territorial waters. The Philippines sued the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). They won a ruling in 2016 that China’s sovereignty claim has no legal basis under international law, but China has been ignoring it. Recently, it has increased the nine-dashed line to a ten-dashed line and continues to conflict with neighboring countries, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

The U.S., concerned about China’s expansion of influence in the South China Sea, is expected to warn China about its aggressive actions at the U.S.-Japan-Philippines summit scheduled for the 11th. The Financial Times (FT) quoted an anonymous source on the 7th: “President Biden will emphasize that the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty applies to the ‘Sierra Madre’ in the South China Sea.”

The Sierra Madre is a ship the Philippines deliberately ran aground on the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. The Philippines has been stationing about ten marines there since 1999 under the pretext of protecting the ship, claiming that one of its warships ran aground there. China has been demanding the removal of the wrecked warship, claiming that the Philippines is illegally occupying the shoal and trying to occupy it permanently.

Before departing for the U.S. to attend the summit on the 10th, President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines met with reporters. He said, “There will be an agreement to maintain security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea at this summit.” The Philippines is pushing for an agreement to conduct joint patrols with the U.S. in the South China Sea to check China, and it is going for a deal with Japan that includes the dispatch of troops for mutual training and rotation of troops. The United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines conducted a joint naval and air force exercise in the South China Sea on July 7.

Daniel Kim
content@viewusglobal.com

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