USS Nimitz and USS Reagan carriers of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet exercise in the South China Sea last July 4. (Photo credit: U.S. Seventh Fleet)
On Friday, February 19, the U.S. State Department warned the Chinese Communist Party against the use of force in the disputed waters. This is a U.S. response to the recent passage of the Chinese Communist Party’s Maritime Police Law and intimidation of its neighbors.
According to Reuters, since the Biden administration took office, the Chinese Communist Party has deployed massive military aircraft to harass Taiwan. Not long ago, the Chinese Communist Party passed the so-called “Chinese Maritime Police Law,” which allows the Chinese Maritime Police to fire on foreign vessels in waters under Chinese jurisdiction.
In response, State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a press conference that the U.S. government is concerned about the content of the Chinese Maritime Police Act and fears that the Chinese government is authorizing its maritime police to use force in disputed waters for the purpose of intimidating China’s neighbors around the area.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made it clear last July that the Chinese Communist Party’s claims to maritime resources in much of the South China Sea are completely illegal, as are the bullying actions it takes against other countries to control those resources.
Pompeo said, “The world will not allow Beijing to see the South China Sea as its own maritime empire.” He also said the U.S. will certainly stand with its Southeast Asian allies to protect their sovereignty over offshore resources and defend the freedom of the high seas, in accordance with their rights under international law.
Price reiterated Pompeo’s position at the press conference. He said the Chinese Communist Party is using the maritime police law as an interface to illegally advance its self-identified sovereign intentions in the South China Sea, a claim that was denied by international arbitration back in 2016.
Price further said the U.S. will stand firm on its commitment to allies such as Japan and the Philippines to fulfill the mutual defense treaties the U.S. has signed with them to challenge the CCP’s expansion of jurisdiction in the South China Sea by conducting regular military patrols in the waters.
Since Biden took office on Jan. 20, the Chinese Communist Party has made frequent provocative moves in the Taiwan Strait, and the U.S. has reacted strongly to them. Following the U.S. dual aircraft carrier exercises in the South China Sea on Feb. 9, the U.S. military announced on Feb. 17 that its SHIELD destroyer USS Lasserre was sailing in the Spratly Islands.
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