South China Sea situation deeply concerning, says US

Hanoi, June 22

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink on Saturday said the situation in the South China Sea is deeply concerning, and said China’s recent actions in the disputed waterway were “deeply destabilising”.

Kritenbrink made the comments during a visit to Hanoi, amid rising tension between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, where Vietnam is also a claimant.

“We think that China’s actions, particularly its recent actions, around the Second Thomas Shoal, vis-à-vis the Philippines have been irresponsible, aggressive, dangerous, deeply destabilising,” Kritenbrink said at a briefing for selected media in Hanoi, a recording of which was reviewed by Reuters.

“We’re going to continue to stand with our Filipino allies,” Kritenbrink said, adding that Washington had made it clear, both publicly and privately, to Beijing that the mutual defence treaty obligations it has with the Philippines were “ironclad”.

Kritenbrink arrived in Hanoi on Friday on the heels of a visit to Vietnam by Russian President Vladimir Putin that was sharply criticised by Washington.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected. — Reuters