State Department urges China to abide by justice and respect freedom of navigation, a right of all States
MADRID, 6 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United States Department of State has issued a statement on Saturday in which it has recorded its support for its “Filipino allies after the dangerous actions of the Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia to obstruct a Philippine resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea”.
In the aforementioned note, the US Executive has denounced that the Chinese ships have interfered with the Philippines’ legal exercise of freedom of navigation on the high seas “firing water cannons and using unsafe blocking maneuvers.”
These actions have been described as “reckless” by the spokesman for the Secretary of the Department of State, Matthew Miller, who added in the statement that they represent a direct threat to peace and security in the region and that “they are incompatible with the law International”.
The US authorities also consider that China is “unjustifiably” hindering lawful Philippine maritime operations by preventing necessary supplies from reaching members of the Philippine services stationed at Second Thomas Shoal.
Likewise, from the State spokesperson they have reiterated that China “does not have any legal claim on the maritime area around Second Thomas Shoal” since it is within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, as resolved by international Justice in 2016.
Thus, the United States has urged the Chinese authorities to “abide by this ruling and respect the freedom of navigation, a right to which all States are entitled.”
Second Thomas Shoal is an atoll in the Spratly Islands, in the South China Sea. The Philippine Navy is keeping a small military contingent of just a dozen soldiers there aboard a US ship that was intentionally beached in 1999 to bolster Philippine territorial claims.
