The United States Government has rejected claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, a move that the Chinese Government has criticized and alleged that the claim was to incite tensions in the region.
It stated that China had overtime offered no coherent legal basis for its ambitions in the South China Sea and for years intimidated other Southeast Asian coastal states,
The U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in a statement yesterday, said: “We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them”.
Earlier, United States had continued to oppose China’s expansive territorial claims on the South China Sea, sending warships regularly through the strategic waterway to demonstrate freedom of navigation there. Monday’s comments reflect a harsher tone.
Pompeo, a prominent China hawk within the Trump administration, said: “The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire”.
“Under the pretext of preserving stability, (the U.S.) is flexing muscles, stirring up tension and inciting confrontation in the region,” it added.
