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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider US tells China: Respect freedom in the high seas

US tells China: Respect freedom in the high seas

Published Nov 11, 2023 09:44 am

​The United States urged China to respect freedom of navigation in the high seas that are guaranteed to all nations under international law after the latter impeded a Philippine-resupply mission that led to another dangerous maneuver and water cannon attack.

Matthew Miller, the spokesman of the US State Department, said Washington was backing the Philippines after a sea row with China off Ayungin Shoal on Friday morning, Nov. 10, when a Philippine boat was attacked by Chinese coast guard vessels with a water cannon.

"The United States stands shoulder-to-shoulder with our Philippine ally in the face of the People’s Republic of China's (PRC) repeated harassment in the South China Sea," Miller said in a statement on Saturday, Nov. 11 (Manila time).

The Washington official said China's actions were "inconsistent with international law," and they followed "a pattern of dangerous operational behavior in the South China Sea."

He said The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration's 2016 decision on the South China Sea already made it clear that China "has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to Second Thomas Shoal"—in the Philippines known as Ayungin Shoal or in China as Ren'ai Jiao.

Miller said the ruling was legally binding on both the Philippines and China -- although this has been rejected by Beijing multiple times in the past.

Miller said the US was reaffirming its Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines, which extends to armed attacks on the Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft, including those of the coast guard, anywhere in the South China Sea.

On Friday, Chinese vessels made a dangerous maneuver, and drenched a Philippine resupply boat with a water cannon after it alleged the latter of infringing on the water it claimed to be its own.

Friday's attack was the second of its kind this year after the same incident happened in August. The Philippines already filed a diplomatic protest—the 58th this year—against China following the incident.

Philippine and US officials had engaged multiple times this year on how to deter China's actions in the waters.

Related Tags

Washington UNCLOS Chinese harassment Beijing water cannon attack
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