China has urged the United States to show respect for other countries’ sovereignty and security as it accused Washington of attempting to “challenge the new maritime order” with its Freedom of Navigation Program.
“We regard the so-called ‘freedom of navigation’ operations as the violent means by which the US promotes its unilateral claims,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said.
According to the Department of Defense (DoD) Freedom of Navigation Report for the Fiscal Year 2015, the US military conducted “freedom of navigation” operations against 13 countries and regions last year, including China, India, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The DoD said on its Web site that these operations aimed to preserve the rights, freedoms and lawful use of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.
US freedom of navigation operations last year challenged China’s claims of jurisdiction over airspace above the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and restrictions on foreign aircraft flying through an air defense identification zone (Adiz), according to the report.
“We have taken note of the US report,” news agency Xinhua quoted Hua as saying. She added the aim of the DoD freedom of navigation program was, in essence, to advance the US unilateral proposition by force and coercion, by brandishing its naval and air power.
Beijing has been extremely sensitive about US ship voyages and aircraft flights challenging maritime claims in the South China Sea, where Beijing has been conducting island reclamation activity.
In 1979, the United States established the Freedom of Navigation program before the signing of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), said Hua, adding its aim was to safeguard the US military’s maximum freedom and maneuverability to enter the oceans of the world and challenge the new maritime order as a non-signatory of the 1982 Unclos.
“These moves by the US are an attempt to dominate maritime order and reflect its logic of hegemony and exceptionalism in its treatment of international law, which it uses when convenient and abandons on unfavorable conditions,” Hua stressed.
She called on Washington to do more that is truly conducive to safeguarding global maritime order as well as regional peace and stability.
Media reports said six U.S. Air Force planes performed a flight mission in “international airspace” in the vicinity of Huangyan Island, which the Philippines refers to as Panatag Shoal, in the South China Sea last April 19.
China’s Ministry of National Defense has accused Washington of pushing militarization of the South China Sea in the name of freedom of navigation and overflight.
Hua said the recent patrol flights in the area by the Philippines and the US were “deserving of suspicion,” urging “some countries” active in the region to exercise restraint and “make cooperative efforts with China.”
China is concerned about and opposed to actions that threaten the sovereignty and security of countries around the South China Sea and undermine regional peace and stability, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, the Philippine government has yet to verify China’s reported plans to start reclamation at the Scarborough Shoal but reminded Beijing to avoid actions that will raise tension in the dispute waters.
“The alleged move of establishing an outpost within the EEZ of the Philippines came from a news report, which needs appropriate validation and confirmation,” presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement.
“The Philippines abides by the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the Unclos. Thus, it is best that claimant-states that are also signatories to those agreements abide by its provisions,” he stressed.
A Hong Kong newspaper recently cited a source close to the People’s Liberation Army as saying China will build an outpost on the Scarborough Shoal. The Philippines claims the shoal as part of its EEZ. http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/china-blasts-us-over-freedom-of-navigation-ops
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