US policy on South China Sea remains
The United States, under a new government, has not changed its policy on the issue of the South China Sea as previously espoused by the Obama administration: That the disputes cannot hinder the rights of all countries to navigate, to fly, and conduct commerce through this important region.
This was emphasized by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during the special US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers meeting which he hosted Thursday in Washington DC where he spent considerable time with his Southeast Asian counterparts talking about the South China Sea territorial disputes.
In a press briefing, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia Patrick Murphy said that during the special meeting, Secretary Tillerson noted that, collectively working together, ASEAN and the US are quite aligned on the principles and the objectives with regards to ensuring that air and maritime transit in that region is free.
Murphy said Tillerson assured ASEAN partners that they can count on the US government to assert these rights for everyone because it is “important for trade and quite important for regional and global security and peace.”
“On South China Sea, our messaging, our objectives, have been quite consistent and remain consistent as we go forward,” the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia said. “It’s clear that we need to ensure freedoms of navigation and overflight. Those are essential to our national interests and for the peace and security and prosperity of the entire Asia Pacific region. And that is a message that we hear from many partners in Southeast Asia. They too would like to see the freedoms of navigation in an overflight and unhindered commerce continue and not be disrupted by rising tensions or disputes that obstruct in any way these freedoms.”
He said Tillerson also made a particular appeal for all parties involved to stop militarization, construction, and reclamation of land in the disputed areas in the South China Sea while talks are going on and while there are peaceful efforts to achieve a lasting solution.
“The (US State) secretary was quite emphatic about the need to stop these activities to give talks a good chance of succeeding,” Murphy stressed. “And that was the primary message that he had to deliver to his counterparts.”
Relative to this, the Secretary of State also stressed the need for ASEAN Member States and China to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in its entirety, and took note of efforts towards the early conclusion of a meaningful Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
“There was a reference to dialogue and the US, of course, encourages the achievement of a full Code of Conduct in the South China Sea,” said Murphy. “But while that process is going, let’s give it room, let’s give it space, so it’s unencumbered by the very kind of actions in the disputed area that gives rise to tension and complicates a lasting solution.”
Furthermore, Secretary Tillerson and the ASEAN foreign ministers reaffirmed their adherence to a rules-based order in the Asia-Pacific and to the common principles articulated in the 2016 Joint Statement of the US-ASEAN Special Leaders’ Summit, including the peaceful resolution of disputes, with full respect for legal and diplomatic processes, and in accordance with international law.
“So I believe that message was shared with the counterparts of the secretary today, that our objectives remain very firm in this regard and the United States will continue to assert its rights in the South China Sea through freedom of operation – freedom of navigation operations and through our diplomacy, through our dialogue with all of our partners in the countries in the region,” said Murphy.
In a readout, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said during the special meeting, Secretary Tillerson also underscored that the Asia-Pacific region is a top priority for the Trump administration and that ASEAN is an essential partner.
Proof of this importance is America’s “established and sustained and continuing engagement with this region,” particularly President Donald Trump’s commitment to attend the East Asia and ASEAN summits in the Philippines in November and the APEC Leaders Meeting in Vietnam, also in November.
Secretary Tillerson himself reaffirmed his commitment to travel to the Philippines in August for a series of annual minister-level meetings with ASEAN and ASEAN’s regional partners.
According to Nauert, Secretary Tillerson also discussed with his ASEAN counterparts economic partnership through US-ASEAN Connect, the Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement, and the ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and Investment program.
For their part, the ASEAN ministers, which included acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo who led the Philippine delegation, welcomed the continued commitment by the US to ASEAN, including the Association’s community-building and regional integration efforts.