WASHINGTON: At a time of escalating geopolitical tension, the United States called on China on Saturday( Apr 29 ) to stop harassing Philippine ships in the South China Sea.
The US State Department stated in a speech,” We call upon Beijing to refrain from its controversial and dangerous run.”
Following an incident at Second Thomas Shoal, a flashpoint for earlier altercations located 105 nautical miles( 195 km) off its coast, the Philippines accused China’s coast guard of” aggressive tactics” on Friday.
A large military force resides in the Second Thomas Shoal on a dirty US fleet from World War Two that was purposefully grounded in 1999 to support the Philippines’ regional cases. A Chinese ship allegedly fired a” military-grade laser” at one of the Philippines’ resupply ships in February, according to the country.
With a” nine-dash line” on maps that extends more than 1,500 km off its mainland and enters the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, China asserts sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea. That set was deemed to have no legal foundation by an international judicial ruling in 2016.
On Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry claimed that the Spanish ships had entered Taiwanese waters and engaged in deliberate provocative behavior.
Washington” stands with our Asian allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order ,” according to the State Department.