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Send a HeroBox Care Package Today!In a follow-up to an identically titled research report from 2014, the U.S. State Department has produced a detailed new legal analysis bashing Communist China's illegalย vaguely-defined โnine-dash lineโ claimsย on the South China Sea.
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Theย newย 47-page research paper,ย โLimits in the Seas,'ย the State Department called on Beijing โto cease its unlawful and coercive activities in the South China Seaโ and decried the Asian power's expansive claims in the area of โgravely undermin[ing] the rule of law in the oceans and numerous universally recognized provisions of international law reflected in the Convention.โ
The report adds:
The overall effect of these maritime claims is that the PRC [China] unlawfully claims sovereignty or some form of exclusive jurisdiction over most of the South China Sea,โ said the paper while reminding China of its obligations as a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
This detailed legal analysis also follows aย 2020 policy statementย by former secretary of state Michael Pompeo on the US' position on the rapidly evolving South China Sea disputes.
Drafted by the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Washington's latest legal analysis focuses on China's claims and activities on four key fronts.
Asia Timesย notes:
First, it questions China's โsovereigntyโ claims โover more than one hundred features in the South China Sea that are submerged below the sea surface at high tide and are beyond the lawful limits of any State's territorial sea.โ
โฆSecond, the report questions China's employment of โstraight baselinesโ as a way โto enclose the islands, waters, and submerged features within vast areas of ocean space in the South China Seaโ in order to create โisland groupsโ โ namely, Dongsha Qundao, Xisha Qundao, Zhongsha Qundao, and Nansha Qundao โ with their own distinct, full-fledged maritime entitlements.
โฆknown as theย โFour Shaโ doctrine, China's clustering of disparate islands into supposed archipelagos has been heavily criticized and even ridiculed by independent legal experts. In the words of the US State Department, neither the UNCLOS nor a โseparate body of customary international lawโฆsupports China's position that it may enclose entire island groups within straight baselines.โ
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โฆThird, the paper also criticized China's maritime jurisdictional claims, which it assessed are โinconsistent with international law.โ For instance, China has claimed more than 12 nautical miles jurisdiction from artificially-created islands in the South China Sea, whileย also opposingย a US military presence across itsย 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
โฆFinally, the paper reiterated both the US' as well as the 2016 Hague ruling's stance on China's โhistoric rightsโ claims in the South China Sea, which the paper said, โhas no legal basis and is asserted by China without specificity as to the nature or geographic extent of the โhistoric rights' claimed.โ
To reinforce its legal position the US has also recently deployedย two naval attack groupsย led by the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and the Wasp-class USS Essex to the region.
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions ofย American Liberty News.
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