[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 93 (Monday, June 27, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S4133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PEACEFUL AND MULTILATERAL RESOLUTION TO MARITIME TERRITORIAL DISPUTES
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to consideration of S. Res. 217.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 217) calling for a peaceful and
multilateral resolution to maritime territorial disputes in
southeast Asia.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. REID. I further ask unanimous consent that the resolution be
agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid
upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any
statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 217) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
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
(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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