Behave in the South China Sea, US Admiral Warns China
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift has fired a broadside at China and other regional nations who are flouting international law in the South China Sea.
Admiral Scott has warned that if bullying behaviour at sea of the kind shown by China is not confronted, it will spread to land and become a "friction point" there.
His remarks are part of an escalating US campaign directed against Chinese land reclamation on reefs under Beijing’s administration.
Swift’s speech came just a day after the Obama administration finalised the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a trade and investment bloc aimed at strengthening US economic dominance in Asia and undermining China’s economic clout.
"It's my sense that some nations view freedom of the seas as up for grabs, as something that can be taken down and redefined by domestic law or by reinterpreting international law," Swift told a maritime conference in Sydney.
"Some nations continue to impose superfluous warnings and restrictions on freedom of the seas in their exclusive economic zones and claim territorial water rights that are inconsistent with (the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). This trend is particularly egregious in contested waters."
Admiral Scott said the US Pacific Fleet would defend "freedom of the seas" through "routine presence, exercises with allies and partners, and freedom-of-navigation operations".
He has some 250,000 sailors and marines, 2000 aircraft, 200 ships and 43 nuclear submarines under his direct command.