US rejects Chinese “expansionist claims” in the South China Sea

July 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller rejected on Tuesday “expansionary maritime claims” in the South China Sea, including the Philippine exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

“Today marks the seventh anniversary since an Arbitral Tribunal established under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention firmly rejected the expansive maritime claims of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the South China Sea, including (.. .) the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines, as well as any resources existing therein,” Miller said in a statement.

“We continue to urge Beijing to adjust its maritime claims to International Law reflected in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the spokesman added.

In addition, it has asked China to cease its “routine harassment” of ships that operate in their respective economic zones legally, to end the “disturbance of the sovereign rights of States to explore, exploit, conserve and manage natural resources” and stop interfering in the freedoms of navigation and overflight.

Miller has insisted that the United States will continue to promote “a free and open Indo-Pacific, at peace and based on respect for International Law.”

Beijing claims sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea, but Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has warned on several occasions since coming to power that he will not renounce Philippine aspirations either.