US warns China over South China Sea claims

The US is pressuring China into adjusting its territorial claims in the South China Sea amid growing concerns that China’s maritime claims are an effort to gain control of oceans in the Asia-Pacific region.

China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea had “created uncertainty, insecurity and instability” among its neighbors, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Danny Russel said in a congressional testimony.

“There are growing concerns that this pattern of behavior in the South China Sea reflects incremental effort by China to assert control over the area contained in the so-called ‘nine-dash line’ despite objections of its neighbors and despite the lack of explanation or apparent basis under international law regarding the scope of the claim itself,” Russel told the House of Representatives subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

Beijing should “clarify or adjust its nine-dash line claim to bring it in accordance with the international law of the sea,” he added.

The ‘nine-dash line’ refers to the demarcation line used by the government of china for its claim of part of the South China Sea.

The contested area covers about 90 percent of the resource-rich waters of the South China Sea, which are dotted with reefs and islands subject to multiple disputes among regional countries.

China, The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have territorial claims across that region, which is part of the Pacific Ocean and provides 10 percent of the global fisheries catch and carries $5 trillion in sea-based trade.

Earlier in January, Beijing rejected US criticism on its new fishing restrictions in the South China Sea waters, saying the rules are in accordance with international law.