The Philippine president-elect said Tuesday that he recently asked the US ambassador whether Washington will support the Philippines in case of a possible confrontation with China in the disputed South China Sea.
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In a related development, Chinese cruise ships will regularly bring tourists to the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea by 2020, reports said Wednesday, as tensions mount in the region.
Diplomatically, the USA has also been on the offensive, laying the groundwork for what it hopes will be a strong and unified worldwide response to the court decision out of The Hague, which could potentially invalidate China’s “nine-dash line” – the territorial marker Beijing uses to claim the bulk of the sea.
Indonesian warships fired warning shots at a group of foreign vessels allegedly fishing illegally and detained a Chinese-flagged boat and 7 crew.
Over the past weeks, China has been trumpeting the long list of countries that backed its position in the territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
Townshend said that drills such as this and recent military deployments to the Philippines and Singapore, as well as the normalization of U.S.-Vietnam defense ties, signal to Beijing that Washington is serious about upholding freedom of navigation for military ships and aircraft.
Beijing, however, rejects the allegations and accuses Washington of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.
“Regardless of how many times it may have gone smoothly in other parts of the world the United States has chosen the wrong opponent by selecting China for this type of game”.
Retno said all of Indonesia’s actions during Friday’s incident were based on the United Nations’ 1982 Convention on Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS), which said that all states have the right to enforce the law on its waters, including within its EEZ.
“In [a] way it is sending China a message that it can not discount the decision of the tribunal”, Mr.de Castro said, adding that even China expects the tribunal’s ruling to be against them.
The detainees were taken to the Natuna Islands.
After constructing basic infrastructure on some of the Paracels, China began allowing tourist cruises there in 2013 – a move seen by some analysts as an attempt to buttress its claims to the South China Sea.
In making displays of military power aimed at China, the USA has “picked the wrong counterpart”, said the editorial, the contents of which are usually vetted by high ranking party officials.
“On the South China Sea we want to talk to experts in global maritime laws on what is the most appropriate way to resolve it”, Pandjaitan said, without elaborating.
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Beijing is certainly not backing down from its more assertive approach, appearing to pick an unnecessary fight with Indonesia just as the court is finalising its ruling.
