[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 167 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 167
Reaffirming the strong support of the United States for the peaceful
resolution of territorial, sovereignty, and jurisdictional disputes in
the Asia-Pacific maritime domains.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 10, 2013
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Corker, Mr.
Donnelly, and Mr. Murphy) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
June 25, 2013
Reported by Mr. Menendez, without amendment
July 29, 2013
Considered and agreed to with an amended preamble
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Reaffirming the strong support of the United States for the peaceful
resolution of territorial, sovereignty, and jurisdictional disputes in
the Asia-Pacific maritime domains.
Whereas the maritime domain of the Asia-Pacific region includes critical sea
lines of communication and commerce between the Pacific and Indian
oceans;
Whereas the United States has a national interest in freedom of navigation and
overflight in the Asia-Pacific maritime domains, as provided for by
universally recognized principles of international law;
Whereas the United States has a national interest in the maintenance of peace
and stability, open access by all to maritime domains, respect for
universally recognized principles of international law, prosperity and
economic growth, and unimpeded lawful commerce;
Whereas although the United States does not take a position on competing
territorial claims over land features and maritime boundaries, it does
have a strong and long-standing interest in the manner in which disputes
in the South China Sea are addressed and in the conduct of the parties;
Whereas the United States has a clear interest in encouraging and supporting the
nations of the region to work collaboratively and diplomatically to
resolve disputes without coercion, without intimidation, without
threats, and without the use of force;
Whereas the South China Sea contains great natural resources, and their
stewardship and responsible use offers immense potential benefit for
generations to come;
Whereas in recent years, there have been numerous dangerous and destabilizing
incidents in this region, including Chinese vessels cutting the seismic
survey cables of a Vietnamese oil exploration ship in May 2011; Chinese
vessels barricading the entrance to the Scarborough Reef lagoon in April
2012; China issuing an official map that newly defines the contested
``nine-dash line'' as China's national border; and, since May 8, 2013,
Chinese naval and marine surveillance ships maintaining a regular
presence in waters around the Second Thomas Shoal, located approximately
105 nautical miles northwest of the Philippine island of Palawan;
Whereas the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has promoted
multilateral talks on disputed areas without settling the issue of
sovereignty, and in 2002 joined with China in signing a Declaration on
the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea that committed all parties
to those territorial disputes to ``reaffirm their respect for and
commitment to the freedom of navigation in and over flight 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 Japan and Taiwan reached an agreement on April 10, 2013, to jointly
share and administer the fishing resources in their overlapping claimed
exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea, an important
breakthrough after 17 years of negotiations and a model for other such
agreements;
Whereas other incidences of the joint administrations of resources in disputed
waters in the South China Sea have de-escalated tensions and promoted
economic development, such as Malaysia and Brunei's 2009 agreement to
partner on exploring offshore Brunei waters, with drilling in offshore
oil and gas fields off Brunei beginning in 2011; and Thailand and
Vietnam's agreement to jointly develop areas of the Gulf of Thailand for
gas exports, despite ongoing territorial disputes;
Whereas, on June 21, 2013, the Governments of the People's Republic of China and
Vietnam announced that they had agreed to set up and use an emergency
fishery hotline to inform each other of any detainment involving
fishermen or boats within 48 hours, to help quickly resolve disputes and
as part of efforts to prevent future incidents from derailing ties, and
the Governments of the People's Republic of China and Indonesia on May
2, 2013, agreed to establish a hotline for incidents in their disputed
waters;
Whereas the Government of the Republic of the Philippines states that it ``has
exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful
negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China'' and in his
statement of January 23, 2013, Republic of Philippines Secretary of
Foreign Affairs Del Rosario stated that therefore ``the Philippines has
taken the step of bringing China before the Arbitral Tribunal under
Article 287 and Annex VII of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea
in order to achieve a peaceful and durable solution to the dispute'';
Whereas, in January 2013, a Chinese naval ship allegedly fixed its weapons-
targeting radar on Japanese vessels in the vicinity of the Senkaku
islands, and, on April 23, 2013, eight Chinese marine surveillance ships
entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off the Senkaku Islands,
further escalating regional tensions;
Whereas, on May 8, 2013, the Chinese Communist Party's main newspaper, The
People's Daily, published an article by several Chinese scholars
questioning Japan's sovereignty over Okinawa, where key United States
military installations are located which contribute to preserving
security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China has recently taken
other unilateral steps, including ``improperly drawing'' baselines
around the Senkaku Islands in September 2102, which the 2013 Annual
Report to Congress on Military and Security Developments Involving the
People's Republic of China found to be ``inconsistent with international
law'', and maintaining a continuous military and paramilitary presence
around the Senkaku Islands;
Whereas, on April 27, 2013, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying,
was quoted as saying, ``The Diaoyu Islands are about sovereignty and
territorial integrity. Of course it's China's core interest.'';
Whereas although the United States does not take a position on the ultimate
sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands, the United States Government
acknowledges that they are under the administration of Japan and opposes
any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine such administration,
affirms that the unilateral actions of a third party will not affect the
United States acknowledgment of the administration of Japan over the
Senkaku Islands, remains committed under the Treaty of Mutual
Cooperation and Security to respond to any armed attack in the
territories under the administration of Japan, and has urged all parties
to take steps to prevent incidents and manage disagreements through
peaceful means;
Whereas, on August 3, 2012, a Department of State spokesperson expressed concern
over ``China's upgrading of the administrative level of Sansha City and
the establishment of a new military garrison there,'' encouraged ASEAN
and China ``to make meaningful progress toward finalizing a
comprehensive Code of Conduct,'' and called upon claimants to ``explore
every diplomatic or other peaceful avenue for resolution, including the
use of arbitration or other international legal mechanisms as needed'';
Whereas the United States recognizes the importance of strong, cohesive, and
integrated regional institutions, including the East Asia Summit (EAS),
ASEAN, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, as
foundation for effective regional frameworks to promote peace and
security and economic growth, including in the maritime domain, and to
ensure that the Asia-Pacific community develops rules-based regional
norms which discourage coercion and the use of force;
Whereas the United States welcomes the development of a peaceful and prosperous
China, the government of which respects international norms,
international laws, international institutions, and international rules;
enhances security and peace; and seeks to advance a ``new model'' of
relations between the United States and China;
Whereas ASEAN plays an important role, in partnership with others in the
regional and international community, in addressing maritime security
issues in the Asia-Pacific region and into the Indian Ocean, including
open access to the maritime domain of Asia;
Whereas ASEAN and China announced on June 30, 2013, that official consultations
on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea will commence at the 6th
Senior Officials' Meeting and the 9th Joint Working Group on the
Implementation of the Declaration of Conduct of the Parties in the SCS,
to be held in China in September 2013; Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
reaffirmed that China was willing to advance talks on a code of conduct
as part of a ``continual, gradual and deepening process''; and Secretary
of State John F. Kerry, participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum
Ministerial Meeting on July 2, 2013, expressed the hope that
announcement of official consultations between ASEAN and China would be
the beginning of sustained and substantive official engagement between
the two on developing the new Code of Conduct; and
Whereas, from June 17-20, 2013, the 10 ASEAN members and their dialogue partners
Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, and
the United States jointly participated in the First ASEAN Defense
Ministers' Meeting Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief
(HADR) and Military Medicine (MM) exercise, helping to establish a new
pattern of cooperation among the militaries of the Asia-Pacific: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns the use of coercion, threats, or force by
naval, maritime security, or fishing vessels and military or
civilian aircraft in the South China Sea and the East China Sea
to assert disputed maritime or territorial claims or alter the
status quo;
(2) strongly urges that all parties to maritime and
territorial disputes in the region exercise self-restraint in
the conduct of activities that would undermine stability or
complicate or escalate disputes, including refraining from
inhabiting presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, and
other features and handle their differences in a constructive
manner;
(3) reaffirms the strong support of the United States for
the member states of ASEAN and the Government of the People's
Republic of China as they seek to develop a code of conduct of
parties in the South China Sea, and urges all countries to
substantively support ASEAN in its efforts in this regard;
(4) supports collaborative diplomatic processes by all
claimants in the South China Sea for resolving outstanding
maritime or territorial disputes, in a manner that maintains
peace and security, adheres to international law, and protects
unimpeded lawful commerce as well as freedom of navigation and
overflight, and including through international arbitration,
allowing parties to peacefully settle claims and disputes using
universally recognized principles of international law;
(5) encourages the deepening of efforts by the United
States Government to develop partnerships with other countries
in the region for maritime domain awareness and capacity
building; and
(6) supports the continuation of operations by the United
States Armed Forces in the Western Pacific, including in
partnership with the armed forces of other countries in the
region, in support of freedom of navigation, the maintenance of
peace and stability, and respect for universally recognized
principles of international law, including the peaceful
resolution of issues of sovereignty and unimpeded lawful
commerce.
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