[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 183 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 183

Calling for suspension of construction of artificial land formations on 
 islands, reefs, shoals, and other features of the Spratly Islands and 
   for a peaceful and multilateral resolution to the South China Sea 
                          territorial dispute.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2015

 Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. McCain, and Mr. Sullivan) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Calling for suspension of construction of artificial land formations on 
 islands, reefs, shoals, and other features of the Spratly Islands and 
   for a peaceful and multilateral resolution to the South China Sea 
                          territorial dispute.

Whereas the United States Government strongly supports the peaceful resolution 
        of territorial, sovereignty, and jurisdictional disputes in the South 
        China Sea;
Whereas the South China Sea includes critical sea lines of communication and 
        commerce between the Pacific and Indian oceans;
Whereas the United States Government has a national interest in freedom of 
        navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, as provided for by 
        customary principles of international law;
Whereas the United States Government is also committed to upholding 
        internationally lawful uses of the high seas and the Exclusive Economic 
        Zones as well as to the related rights and freedoms in other maritime 
        zones, including the rights of innocent passage, transit passage, and 
        archipelagic sea lanes passage consistent with customary international 
        law;
Whereas the United States has an interest in encouraging and supporting the 
        nations of the region to work collaboratively and diplomatically to 
        resolve disputes without coercion, intimidation, threats, or the use of 
        force;
Whereas the United States further supports the efforts of states to resolve 
        their disputes in accordance with international law, including through 
        internationally recognized legal dispute settlement mechanisms, and 
        urges the full implementation of any decisions rendered by the relevant 
        courts and tribunals which are binding on them;
Whereas the South China Sea potentially contains great natural resources, and 
        their stewardship and responsible use offers immense potential benefit 
        for generations to come;
Whereas Brunei, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines have 
        overlapping territorial, sovereignty, and jurisdictional claim to all or 
        some of the Spratly Islands;
Whereas, on January 23, 2013, the Philippines launched an arbitration process 
        under an existing international mechanism challenging China's claim of a 
        ``nine dash line'' around the South China Sea;
Whereas, although the United States does not take a position on competing 
        territorial claims over land features and maritime boundaries of the 
        Spratly Islands, 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, even while the Government of the People's Republic of China has refused 
        to participate in formal arbitration with the Government of the 
        Philippines, it should comply with any international ruling on competing 
        territorial claims with the Philippines in the South China Sea;
Whereas, in recent years, the Government of the People's Republic of China has 
        engaged in unilateral land reclamation and construction activities in 
        the Spratly Islands that undermines regional stability and is counter to 
        multilateral efforts for peaceful resolution of territorial, 
        sovereignty, and jurisdictional disputes in the South China Sea;
Whereas, although other claimants to the Spratly Islands have built small 
        outposts and have engaged in minor maintenance on features they already 
        occupy, in less than one year the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China has rapidly exceeded all preceding activities and acted on a much 
        larger scale;
Whereas, on November 4, 2002, the governments of the member states of the 
        Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China signed a Declaration on the Conduct of 
        Parties in the South China Sea that, among other things, declared, ``The 
        Parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of 
        activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace 
        and stability including, among others, refraining from action of 
        inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays, 
        and other features and to handle their differences in a constructive 
        manner.'';
Whereas China's land reclamation is estimated to cost the region's littoral 
        states $100,000,000 a year due to damage to the ecosystem and the 
        degradation of fish stocks;
Whereas, on March 23, 2015, satellite imagery showed the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China building a concrete runway on the Fiery Cross 
        Reef that is expected to be 10,000 feet long and give the Chinese 
        military the capability to land fighter jets and surveillance jets, 
        which is destabilizing to regional peace and stability;
Whereas satellite imagery also showed the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China unilaterally constructing island territory on Subi Reef that, if 
        connected, would support an additional airstrip;
Whereas satellite imagery also showed that Woody Island and Duncan Island have 
        grown significantly due to Chinese land reclamation activities;
Whereas, a March 16, 2015, image published by the Center for Strategic and 
        International Studies showed that the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China constructed a chain of artificial land formations, new 
        structures, fortified sea walls, and construction equipment along 
        Mischief Reef, an area claimed by the Philippines and within its 
        Exclusive Economic Zone;
Whereas, in April 2015, the United States Office of Naval Intelligence published 
        a report on the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy showing that the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China has reclaimed hundreds of 
        acres of land at the seven features it occupies in the Spratly Islands 
        throughout 2014 and stated that China ``appears to be building much 
        larger facilities that could support naval operations.'';
Whereas, on April 6, 2015, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter noted deep concerns 
        regarding some of the activities of the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China, including ``its behavior in places like the East and 
        South China Seas.'';
Whereas, on April 9, 2015, President Barack Obama stated, ``Where [the United 
        States gets] concerned with China is where it is not necessarily abiding 
        by international norms and rules, and is using its size and muscle to 
        force countries into subordinate positions. And that's the concern we 
        have around maritime issues.'';
Whereas, on April 16, 2015, the Commander of United States Pacific Command, 
        Admiral Locklear, stated that Chinese land reclamation activities in the 
        South China Sea ``would give them de facto control in peacetime of much 
        of the world's most important waterways''; that China could place 
        ``long-range detection radars'' on the outposts in order to place more 
        warships there; and that Southeast Asian nations are increasingly 
        worried that China's new capabilities will allow it to take de facto 
        control of the surrounding waters;
Whereas adding a military dimension to the territorial dispute exacerbates the 
        risks of misperceptions, accidents, and other dangerous incidents in the 
        Spratly Islands;
Whereas, on April 9, 2015, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, 
        was quoted as saying, ``After the construction, the islands and reefs 
        will be able to provide all-round and comprehensive services to meet 
        various civilian demands besides satisfying the need of necessary 
        military defense.'';
Whereas ASEAN has promoted multilateral talks on disputed areas without settling 
        the issue of sovereignty, and committed with China in the 2002 
        Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea 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 the reclamation activities of the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China threaten ASEAN unity and its multilateral efforts to promote 
        peaceful reconciliation of territorial, sovereignty, and jurisdictional 
        disputes in the Spratly Islands and the broader South China Sea; and
Whereas, on January 28, 2015, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario 
        urged ASEAN ``to consider reaching out to the international community to 
        say to China that what it is doing is wrong--that it must stop its 
        reclamation activities at once'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China's unilateral construction of artificial land formations 
        in the disputed Spratly Islands;
            (2) strongly urges all parties to maritime and territorial 
        disputes in the region to respect the status quo, exercise 
        self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would 
        undermine stability or complicate or escalate disputes, refrain 
        from inhabiting or garrisoning presently uninhabited islands, 
        reefs, shoals, and other features, and refrain from unilateral 
        actions that cause permanent physical change to the marine 
        environment in areas pending final delimitation;
            (3) urges the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        to clarify the meaning of its ``nine dash line'' claim and the 
        maritime areas it claims within that space;
            (4) further urges the Government of the People's Republic 
        of China to clarify its intentions with respect to establishing 
        ``necessary military defense'' on reclaimed features and 
        condemns the militarization of disputed features;
            (5) supports efforts by parties to maritime and territorial 
        disputes to handle their differences in a constructive manner 
        and pursue their claims through peaceful, diplomatic, and 
        legitimate regional and international arbitration mechanisms;
            (6) reaffirms the strong support of the United States for 
        the member states of ASEAN as they seek to develop a code of 
        conduct of parties in the South China Sea with the People's 
        Republic of China, and urges China to enter into such 
        negotiations in a serious manner;
            (7) supports efforts to strengthen regional maritime domain 
        awareness;
            (8) supports efforts to strengthen maritime partner 
        capacity, including through the sale and transfer of technology 
        that promotes maritime domain awareness; and
            (9) 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.
                                 <all>