Whereas the South China Sea contains vital commercial
shipping lanes and points of access between the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean
and provides a maritime lifeline to Taiwan, Japan, and the Korean
peninsula;
Whereas China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia,
and Brunei have disputed territorial claims over the Spratly Islands, and
China, Taiwan, and Vietnam have disputed territorial claims over the Paracel
Islands;
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China
claims most of the 648,000 square miles of the South China Sea, more than any
other nation involved in those territorial disputes;
Whereas although not a party to these disputes, the United
States has a national economic and security interest in ensuring that no party
uses force unilaterally to assert maritime territorial claims in East Asia,
including in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, or the Yellow Sea;
Whereas, on May 26, 2011, a maritime security vessel from
China cut the cables of an exploration ship from Vietnam, the Binh Minh, in the
South China Sea in waters near Cam Ranh Bay;
Whereas, on May 31, 2011, three Chinese military vessels
used guns to threaten the crews of four Vietnamese fishing boats while they
were fishing in the waters of the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago;
Whereas, on June 3, 2011, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry
released a statement that Vietnam is resolutely opposed to these acts by
China that seriously violated the sovereign and jurisdiction rights of Viet Nam
to its continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), running counter to
the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and going against the
spirit and wording of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea
(South China Sea) signed between ASEAN and China in 2002
;
Whereas, on June 9, 2011, three vessels from China,
including one fishing vessel and two maritime security vessels, ran into and
disabled the cables of another exploration ship from Vietnam, the Viking
2;
Whereas, on June 13–14, 2011, the Government of Vietnam
held a live-fire military exercise on the uninhabited island of Hon Ong, 25
miles off the coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea;
Whereas, on June 25, 2011, Chinese Peoples’ Liberation
Army Major General (Ret.) Peng Guangqian stated in a television interview that
China once taught Vietnam a lesson. If Vietnam is not sincere, it will
receive a bigger lesson
, adding that If Vietnam continues to act
tough, play with the knife, sooner or later it will get cut
;
Whereas, on June 26, 2011, the Chinese news agency Xinhua
announced that China and Vietnam had agreed to hold talks on how to resolve
conflicts arising from a sovereignty dispute over the South China Sea after a
June 25 meeting in Beijing between Dai Bingguo, the senior Chinese official in
charge of foreign affairs, and Vietnamese Vice Foreign Minister and Special
Envoy Ho Xuan Son;
Whereas, on February 25, 2011, a frigate from China’s navy
fired shots at 3 fishing boats from the Philippines;
Whereas, on March 2, 2011, the Government of the
Philippines reported that two patrol boats from China attempted to ram one of
its surveillance ships;
Whereas it was reported, on June 17, 2011, that the
Philippines removed a string of wooden markers that Manila determined was
placed by China in disputed areas of the South China Sea amid growing regional
tensions;
Whereas, on June 23, 2011, Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton told visiting Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario
that We are determined and committed to supporting the defense of the
Philippines
;
Whereas Philippines Foreign Secretary del Rosario stated
that the Philippines is a small country, but is prepared to do what is
necessary to stand up to any aggressive action in our backyard
;
Whereas the United States, on June 23, 2011, stated that
it was ready to provide hardware to modernize the military of the
Philippines;
Whereas the United States and the Philippines conducted
combined naval exercises in the Sulu Sea, near the South China Sea, from June
28 to July 8, 2011;
Whereas the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
has promoted multilateral talks and the establishment of Joint Development
Authorities in disputed areas to jointly develop the areas, without settling
the issue of sovereignty;
Whereas in 2002, ASEAN and China signed a Declaration on
the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea;
Whereas that declaration committed all parties to those
territorial disputes to reaffirm their respect for and commitment to the
freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea as provided
for by the universally recognized principles of international law
, and
to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful
means, without resorting to the threat or use of force
;
Whereas a spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs pointed out, on June 20, 2011, that as a major trading nation,
Singapore has a critical interest in anything affecting freedom of navigation
in all international sea lanes, including those in the South China
Sea.
;
Whereas Singapore further urged China to clarify its
claims in the South China Sea with more precision as the current ambiguity as
to their extent has caused serious concerns in the international maritime
community;
Whereas, on June 17, 2011, China dispatched one of its
largest patrol ships, the Haixun 31, on a voyage through disputed areas of the
South China Sea in a deliberate show of force en route to a port of call in
Singapore;
Whereas China’s official media stated that the sailing
route of the Haixun 31 in the South China Sea was determined to protect its
rights and sovereignty
;
Whereas in September 2010, tensions were raised in the
East China Sea off of the Senkaku (Diaoyutai) Islands, a territory under the
legal administration of Japan, when a Chinese fishing vessel deliberately
rammed Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats;
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China
deliberately heightened these tensions by making a series of diplomatic
protests, including on one occasion summoning the Japanese Ambassador after
midnight, by threatening further repercussions
if Japan did not
immediately release the Chinese ship captain involved in the collisions, and by
encouraging anti-Japanese demonstrations in Chinese cities;
Whereas at a press roundtable in Beijing, China, held on
January 15, 2008, former Commander of the Pacific Command, Admiral Timothy
Keating, stated that We (the United States) don't need China’s
permission to go through the Taiwan Strait. It’s international water. We will
exercise our free right of passage whenever and wherever we choose as we have
done repeatedly in the past and we'll do in the future.
;
Whereas in July 2010, People’s Daily, the official
newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, reported that General Ma Xiaotian,
deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, said that
China strongly opposed
combined naval exercises to be conducted
in the West (Yellow) Sea by the United States and the Republic of Korea;
Whereas these exercises were to be conducted in
international waters, as well as Republic of Korea territorial waters, in the
vicinity of the site of the March 2010 North Korean torpedo attack on the South
Korean military vessel Cheonan, which resulted in 46 deaths;
Whereas these exercises were to include participation by
the USS George Washington aircraft carrier group;
Whereas in July 2010, Chinese Major General Luo Yuan, a
researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, in an interview with a
Hong Kong TV station, stressed the importance of the Yellow Sea as a
gateway to China’s capital region
and said that if a U.S.
aircraft carrier enters the Yellow Sea, it will become a living
target.
;
Whereas the actions of the Government of the People’s
Republic of China in the South China Sea have also affected United States
military and maritime vessels transiting through international air space and
waters, including the collision of a fighter plane of China with a United
States surveillance plane in 2001, the harassment of the USNS Impeccable in
March 2009, and the collision of a Chinese submarine with the sonar cable of
the USS John McCain in June 2009;
Whereas, on July 23, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton stated at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional
Forum that the United States, like every nation, has a national interest
in freedom of navigation, open access to Asia’s maritime commons, and respect
for international law in the South China Sea
;
Whereas Secretary Clinton further expressed the support of
the United States for the Declaration by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and China in 2002 on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and
stated, The United States supports a collaborative diplomatic process by
all claimants for resolving the various territorial disputes without
coercion.
;
Whereas, on October 12, 2010, former Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates stated at the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus, The
U.S. position on maritime security remains clear: we have a national interest
in freedom of navigation; in unimpeded economic development and commerce; and
in respect for international law.
;
Whereas former Secretary Gates further maintained
The United States has always exercised our rights and supported the
rights of others to transit through, and operate in, international
waters.
;
Whereas, on June 4, 2011, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in
Singapore, former Secretary Gates stated that maritime security remains
an issue of particular importance for the region, with questions about
territorial claims and the appropriate use of the maritime domain presenting
on-going challenges to regional stability and prosperity
;
Whereas, on June 5, 2011, at the Shangri-La Dialogue,
Liang Guanglie, the Defense Minister from China, said, China is
committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea
;
Whereas, on June 14, 2011, Hong Lei, the spokesman for the
Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated that China always upholds and has been
committed to a proper resolution of differences and disputes over the South
China Sea in a peaceful manner through bilateral direct negotiation and
friendly consultation with relevant countries.
;
Whereas, on June 22, 2011, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister
Cui Tiankai told reporters, in reference to the South China Sea disputes, that
I believe the individual countries are actually playing with fire, and I
hope the fire will not be drawn to the United States.
; and
Whereas, on June 29, 2011, the Defense Ministry of the
People’s Republic of China stated that “Recent drills by the Chinese navy are
routine and not connected to the situation in the South China Sea”, further
calling for people to view the exercises in a rational
way: Now,
therefore, be it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)reaffirms the strong support of the United
States for the peaceful resolution of maritime territorial disputes in the
South China Sea, the East China Sea, and the Yellow Sea and pledges continued
efforts to facilitate a collaborative, peaceful process to resolve these
disputes;
(2)condemns the use
of force by naval, maritime security, and fishing vessels from China in the
South China Sea and the East China Sea as well as the use of force by China’s
North Korean ally in the Yellow Sea;
(3)notes that overt
threats and gun boat diplomacy are not constructive means for settling these
outstanding maritime disputes;
(4)calls on all
parties to these territorial disputes to refrain from threatening force or
using force to assert territorial claims;
(5)welcomes the diplomatic efforts of
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States allies and
partners in Taiwan, Japan, and the Republic of Korea to amiably and fairly
resolve these outstanding disputes; and
(6)supports the
continuation of operations by the United States Armed Forces in support of
freedom of navigation rights in international waters and air space in the South
China Sea, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the Yellow Sea.