Read on Twitter
“...Only the gullible or the co-opted can still credit Beijing’s pretense of good global citizenship. Today we are hearing more and more voices raised against Beijing’s aggressiveness and unilateralism...” https://www.state.gov/the-south-china-sea-southeast-asias-patrimony-and-everybodys-own-backyard/
“... Our policy is to champion a free and open Indo-Pacific in which all the region’s diverse nations can live and prosper in peace. Our policy appreciates the diversity of those nations. It defends sovereignty, independence, and pluralism...”
“...PRC has no lawful maritime claim...over waters determined by the Tribunal to be in the Philippines’[EEZ]or on its continental shelf...Beijing’s harassment of...fisheries and offshore energy development is unlawful, as are any unilateral PRC actions to exploit those resources”
“...because Beijing has failed to put forth a lawful, coherent maritime claim in the South China Sea, the United States rejects any PRC claim to waters beyond a 12 nautical mile territorial sea derived from islands it claims in the Spratly Islands...”
“...[US]rejects any PRC maritime claim in the waters surrounding Vanguard Bank (off Vietnam), Luconia Shoals (off Malaysia), Natuna Besar (off Indonesia), or in the waters of Brunei’s EEZ. Any PRC action to harass other states’ fishing or hydrocarbon development...is unlawful...”
“...PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to James Shoal, off Malaysia...James Shoal is a submerged feature on the sea floor some 20 meters beneath the surface. It is also only 50 nautical miles from Malaysia – and over 1,000 nautical miles from the Chinese mainland...”
“...[US] stands with our Southeast Asian allies and partners in upholding their sovereign rights, and with all the rest of the law-abiding world in defending the freedom of the seas...the world cannot – and will not – allow Beijing to treat the [SCS] as its maritime empire...”
“...International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea: Beijing is running an uncontested candidate for a judge’s position on this tribunal at an election...late August/early September...Electing a PRC official to this body is like hiring an arsonist to help run the Fire Department...”
“...many believed that Beijing’s [SCS] abuses were mostly a local phenomenon, a kind of limited indulgence for a rising power...Beijing wants to dominate its immediate neighborhood – and eventually impose its will and its rules on your neighborhood too, wherever you may be...”
“... Australia, Britain, France, Germany and India have all recently issued statements of unprecedented concern over South China Sea activities by Beijing that put regional stability and international law at risk...”
“...we see promising new defense and security arrangements among allies and partners from Australia to Southeast Asia, Japan and India...all the Leaders of ASEAN last month insisted that [SCS] disputes must be resolved on the basis of international law, including UNCLOS....”
This thread contains excerpts from a speach "The South China Sea, Southeast Asia’s Patrimony, and Everybody’s Own Backyard” by US Assistant Secretary of State David R. Stillwell https://www.state.gov/the-south-china-sea-southeast-asias-patrimony-and-everybodys-own-backyard/
