2020年7月30日 星期四

China’s claims over South China Sea - US officially denied it as "Completely illegal"

Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:

南シナ海巡る中国主張、米が公式に否定 「完全に違法」

トランプ政権 米中衝突 中国・台湾 北米

2020/7/14 7:29 (2020/7/14 12:58更新)

 【ワシントン=永沢毅】ポンペオ米国務長官は13日、南シナ海での中国の海洋進出に関して声明を出し「南シナ海の大半の地域にまたがる中国の海洋権益に関する主張は完全に違法だ」と批判した。米国が南シナ海での中国の権益などに関する主張を公式に否定するのは初めてとみられる。

ポンペオ氏は南シナ海を巡る中国の主張を否定した20167月のオランダ・ハーグの仲裁裁判所の判決を支持する考えを示した。

声明はこの判決から12日で4年を迎えたのにあわせたもの。各国が新型コロナウイルスの対応に追われる中で中国は南シナ海での勢力圏の拡大をめざす動きを加速しており、米国は強い警告を発した。米中対立が一段と先鋭化するのは確実だ。

ポンペオ氏は声明で「世界は中国が南シナ海を自らの海洋帝国として扱うのを認めない」とし、個別の係争案件に言及。ハーグの判決に基づき、フィリピンと中国が主権を争うミスチーフ礁について「中国には正当な領有権や海洋権益はない」と否定した。

中国が主張するマレーシア沖のジェームズ礁の領有権やベトナム沖のバンガード堆、マレーシア沖のルコニア礁での権益などもすべて否定。「これらの海域での他国の漁業や炭化水素開発を中国が妨害するのは違法だ」と批判した。

167月のハーグ仲裁裁判所の判決は南シナ海問題に関する初の国際的な司法判断で、中国独自の「九段線」に国際法上の根拠がないと認定する内容。九段線はベトナム沖からマレーシア沖、フィリピン沖を囲む線で、中国が南シナ海で実効支配を広げる根拠としてきた。

ポンペオ氏は声明で「中国は東南アジアの沿岸国の主権を侵して海洋資源から締め出し、国際法を『武力の正当性』で置き換えている」と非難。九段線について「中国は筋の通った法的な根拠を示していない」と断じ「略奪的な中国の世界観は21世紀にはあり得ない」との見解を示した。

これまでも米国は南シナ海問題では国際法を尊重した平和的な解決を求めてきたが、中国の主張を明確には違法と指摘せず、九段線は不当と批判するにとどめていた。今回の声明ではフィリピンやベトナム、マレーシアといった中国と権益を争っている国々を支持し、中国の主張を否定する立場を明確にした。

南シナ海では7月、米中がともに軍事演習を実施するなど緊張が高まっている。

Translation

[Washington = Takeshi Nagasawa] US Secretary of State Pompeo issued a statement on March 13 regarding China's advance into the South China Sea, saying that "The claim regarding China's maritime interests across most of the South China Sea is completely illegal." It would be the first time that the United States officially denied claims about China's interests in the South China Sea.

Pompeo expressed his support for the July 2016 Arbitration Court decision in the Hague, the Netherlands, which denied China's claims over the South China Sea.

The statement on the 12th tied in with the 4th anniversary of the Court decision being passed. The US issued a strong warning as China was accelerating its efforts to expand its sphere of influence in the South China Sea when other countries were busily responding to the new coronaviruses. It was certain that this would further sharpen the US-China conflict.

Pompeo said in a statement that "The world does not allow China to treat the South China Sea as its own maritime empire," citing separate disputes. Based on the Hague's ruling regarding the sovereign dispute between Philippines and China over Mischief Reef, he denied China in saying that "China has no legitimate sovereignty and maritime interests."

He also denied all the claim that China made to the James Reef off Malaysia, the Vanguard Bank off Vietnam, and the Luconia Reef off Malaysia. He said that "It is illegal for China to disrupt other countries' fisheries and hydrocarbon exploitation in these areas,"

The Hague Arbitration Court's decision in July 2016 was the first international judicial decision on the South China Sea issue, and it was found that China's self-claimed "9-dash line" had no basis in international law. The 9-dash line was a line that encircled the coast of Vietnam, the coast of Malaysia, and the coast of the Philippines, it had been the basis for China to expand its effective control in the South China Sea.

Pompeo said in a statement criticized that, "China is invading the sovereignty of coastal states in Southeast Asia to shut out marine resources and replace international law with ‘a force of right’". Regarding the nine-dash line, he concluded that, "China does not show us a legitimate legal basis," and showed a viewpoint of it was "A predatory Chinese world view that cannot exist in the 21st century."

Until now, the United States had sought a peaceful solution to the South China Sea issue by respecting international law, but did not explicitly point out that China's claims were illegal, and only criticized the "9-dash line” as unjust. In this statement this time, it supported countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia who were in conflict with China, and clarified its position to deny China's claims.

In the South China Sea in July, tensions were rising with the US and China conducting military exercises at the same time.

              So, it is the first time for the US to officially show its stance over the sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea between China and its neighboring countries. It is an indication that the US is raising the US-China tension.


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