MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia has joined the United States in claiming that China’s claims in the South China Sea do not comply with international law in a statement that is likely to anger China and put further pressure on deteriorating relations.
The United States this month rejected China’s claims about offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, prompting criticism from China that the United States’ position increased tension in the region.
Australia, in a statement filed at the United Nations in New York on Friday, said it also rejected China’s maritime claims around the disputed islands in the South China Sea as inconsistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“Australia rejects China’s claim of ‘historical rights’ or ‘maritime rights and interests’ as set out in the ‘long course of historical practice’ in the South China Sea,” he said.
Australia also said it did not accept China’s claim that its sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands was “widely recognized by the international community”, citing objections from Vietnam and the Philippines.
China claims 90% of potentially energy-rich waters, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam also claim parts of it.
About $ 3 trillion in trade passes through the channel each year. China has built bases on atolls in the region, but says its intentions are peaceful.
Australia has long advocated for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and for all claimants to resolve their differences in compliance with international law.
Its most outspoken position on China’s claims comes after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this month that China had not offered a coherent legal basis for its ambitions in the South China Sea and that during For years it has been using intimidation against other coastal states.
Pompeo said the world would not allow China to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire, adding that the United States would support countries that believed that China had violated its maritime claims.
The United States has long opposed China’s expansive territorial claims to the South China Sea, regularly dispatching warships through the strategic waterway to demonstrate freedom of navigation.
Australia’s statement on China’s claims comes as its foreign and defense ministers prepare to travel to Washington to attend a bilateral forum on July 28, the government said.
Diplomatic tension between China and Australia has recently worsened due to several problems, including an Australian call for an international investigation into the new coronavirus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
Report by Melanie Burton; Editing by Robert Birsel
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