[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 93 (Monday, June 27, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4131-S4132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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    SENATE RESOLUTION 217--CALLING FOR A PEACEFUL AND MULTILATERAL 
     RESOLUTION TO MARITIME TERRITORIAL DISPUTES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

  Mr. WEBB (for himself, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Inouye) 
submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 217

       Whereas, on June 9, 2011, 3 vessels from China, including 1 
     fishing vessel and 2 maritime security vessels, ran into and 
     disabled the cables of an exploration ship from Vietnam, the 
     VIKING 2;
       Whereas that use of force occurred within 200 nautical 
     miles of Vietnam, an area recognized as its Exclusive 
     Economic Zone;
       Whereas, on May 26, 2011, a maritime security vessel from 
     China cut the cables of another exploration ship from 
     Vietnam, the BINH MINH, in the South China Sea in waters near 
     Cam Ranh Bay;
       Whereas, in March 2011, the Government of the Philippines 
     reported that patrol boats from China attempted to ram 1 of 
     its surveillance ships;
       Whereas those incidents occurred within disputed maritime 
     territories of the South China Sea, including the Spratly 
     Islands, composed of 21 islands and atolls, 50 submerged land 
     atolls, and 28 partly submerged reefs over an area of 340,000 
     square miles, and the Paracel Islands, a smaller group of 
     islands located south of China's Hainan Island;
       Whereas China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, 
     and Brunei have disputed territorial claims over the Spratly 
     Islands, and China and Vietnam have a disputed claim over the 
     Paracel Islands;
       Whereas the Government 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, in 2002, the Association of Southeast Asian 
     Nations and China signed a declaration on the code of 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'' and to ``resolve their 
     territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, 
     without resorting to the threat or use of force'';
       Whereas the South China Sea contains vital commercial 
     shipping lines and points of access between the Indian Ocean 
     and Pacific Ocean;
       Whereas, although not a party to these disputes, the United 
     States has a national economic and a security interest in 
     ensuring that no party uses force unilaterally to assert 
     maritime territorial claims in East Asia;
       Whereas, in September 2010, the Government of China also 
     deliberately provoked a controversy within the waters of the 
     Senkaku Islands, territory under the legal administration of 
     Japan in the East China Sea;
       Whereas the actions of the Government 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 the 
     Government 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, like every nation, the United States has a 
     national interest in freedom of navigation and open access to 
     the maritime commons of Asia;
       Whereas the Government of the United States expressed 
     support for the declaration by the Association of Southeast 
     Asian Nations and China in 2002 on the code of conduct of 
     parties in the South China Sea, and supports a collaborative 
     diplomatic process by all claimants for resolving the various 
     territorial disputes without coercion;
       Whereas the United States has a national interest in 
     freedom of navigation and in unimpeded economic development 
     and commerce;
       Whereas, on October 11, 2010, Secretary Gates 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 3, 2011, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 
     Singapore, Secretary Gates stated that ``[m]aritime 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 4, 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 11, 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; and
       Whereas, on June 11, 2011, Hong Lei, the Foreign Ministry 
     spokesman of China, stated, ``[China] will not resort to 
     force or the threat of force'' to resolve the territorial 
     dispute: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reaffirms the strong support of the United States for 
     the peaceful resolution of maritime territorial disputes in 
     the South China Sea, and pledges continued efforts to 
     facilitate a multilateral, peaceful process to resolve these 
     disputes;
       (2) deplores the use of force by naval and maritime 
     security vessels from China in the South China Sea;
       (3) calls on all parties to the territorial dispute to 
     refrain from threatening force or using force to assert 
     territorial claims; and

[[Page S4132]]

       (4) 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.

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