SAN FRANCISCO — Alarmed by China’s extensive reclamation in reefs in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), four influential U.S. Senate leaders have called for “specific actions” to slow down or to stop Beijing’s “aggressive” moves in the disputed areas.

Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, urged government to come up with a comprehensive U.S. strategy for addressing China’s increasingly assertive conduct in maritime areas at the expense of smaller Southeast Asian claimants, including the Philippines.

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In a letter to State Secretary John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ash Carter, the senators warned that the simultaneous reclamation and building activities at different sites could place “longstanding interests of the United States, as well as our allies and partners, stand at considerable risk.”

The bipartisan Senate intervention contained in a letter dated Friday (March 20) was also signed by ranking Democratic committee members Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

In a letter to State Secretary John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ash Carter, the senators warned that the simultaneous reclamation and building activities at different sites could place “longstanding interests of the United States, as well as our allies and partners, stand at considerable risk.”

The bipartisan Senate intervention contained in a letter dated Friday (March 20) was also signed by ranking Democratic committee members Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam all have overlapping claims in the region, which straddles some of the world’s busiest sealanes and are believed to have rich undersea petroleum and gas deposits.

Threat to US interests

In their letter, the senators observed that China has been reclaiming land in the Spratly archipelago at an “alarming scope and pace” and warned they “are a direct challenge not only to the interests of the United States and the region, but to the entire international community.”

“The United States maintains vested interests in the Indo-Pacific region, including the security of our allies and partners, in the freedom of navigation, in free and unimpeded commerce, in respect for international law and the peaceful resolution of disputes,” the senators said in their letter.

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They said the South China Sea is a critical maritime highway through which some $5 trillion in global ship-borne trade passes each year, adding that unilateral efforts to change the status quo through force, intimidation, or coercion threaten the peace and stability that have benefited all the nations of the Indo-Pacific region.

“China’s land-reclamation and construction activities on multiple islands across the Spratly chain, and the potential command and control, surveillance and military capabilities it could bring to bear from these new land features, are a direct challenge not only to the interests of the United States and the region, but to the entire international community,” the senators said.

Preemptive move

In Manila, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario said Thursday that China has been rushing construction projects, including massive land reclamation, in the disputed areas to preempt any legal moves against its territorial claims.

Del Rosario called China’s expansive maritime claims to almost the entire South China Sea “invalid and excessive and in violation of international law.”

Alarmed by Beijing’s assertiveness, the Philippines sought international arbitration two years ago to challenge the legality of Beijing’s claims, Del Rosario said.

He said that although China has ignored the Philippine legal challenge before a U.N.-backed tribunal in The Hague, Manila is confident a ruling would be made as early as next January or February.

He said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is also pursuing proposals for China and ASEAN to conclude a legally binding “code of conduct” restricting aggressive behavior that could spark armed confrontations in the disputed areas.

“It is clear to us that China is accelerating its expansionist agenda and changing the status quo to … control nearly the entire South China Sea before the conclusion of the code of conduct and the handing down of a decision of the arbitral tribunal,” Del Rosario said.

The Philippines has protested the reclamation projects, but Beijing has routinely asserted that China the right to undertake any activity in territories it claims.

Multiple reclamations

The senators wrote that they believed most of China’s simultaneous reclamation work had been done in the past 12 months.

They referred specifically to Gaven Reef, saying it had been expanded by 114,000 square meters since March 2014, and to Johnson Reef, a previously a submerged feature that’s been converted so far into 100,000-square-meter island.

Fiery Cross Reef, they said, has increased more 10 times in size since August.

Their letter acknowledged that other states have built on existing land masses, but said China is changing the size, structure and physical attributes of land features.

“This is a qualitative change that appears designed to alter the status quo in the South China Sea,” the letter said.

The senators suggested the U.S. to suspend some cooperation with China if land reclamation activities do not stop.

The senators warned that the reclamation complicates disputes over the archipelago and runs contrary to calls from the U.S. and ASEAN for parties to exercise self-restraint.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea based on a self-proclaimed horse shoe-shaped nine-dash line map, including several parts administered by its Southeast Asian neighbors.

They said the extensive reclamation and building projects violate the commitments that China made as part of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea with ASEAN, in which all parties agreed to “exercise self restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes.”

Maritime security strategy

The senators noted that the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 includes a requirement for a report on maritime security strategy with an emphasis on the South China Sea and East China Sea, where China is also at odds with Japan over uninhabited islands administered by Tokyo called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

The senators said the U.S. strategy in the disputed seas should specifically address a number of key items, namely:

Specific actions the United States can take to slow down or stop China’s reclamation activities in the South China Sea;

The possible benefits of releasing intelligence more regularly about China’s destabilizing behavior;

What forms of security cooperation with China would be inappropriate to continue if land reclamation activities proceed and what forms of engagement might provide incentives for China to alter its behavior;

The region’s Maritime Domain Awareness needs; how to help regional partners enhance their own capacity; and

Additional diplomatic engagement with ASEAN countries or others in the international community to support unimpeded access to the Indo-Pacific maritime commons.

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