MANILA, Philippines — The tense contest over maritime areas in the South China Sea is not the doing of only one country in the region, a United States Department of State official said.
Michael Fuchs, the second top policy maker for Asia Pacific, said in an influential Washington-based think tank over the weekend that "no claimant is solely responsible for the state of the tensions."
He said that the behavior of claimant states over small features in the sea attract attention from the rest of the world.
China has overlapping claims over the East and South China Sea with the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Brunei and Malaysia.
"It's because the way in which countries pursue their claims speaks to whether future disputes will be handled by the threat and use of force on the one hand or the rule of law on the other," Fuchs said.
"It speaks to whether the same rules will apply to all claimants – big and small alike," he added.
Fuchs explained that nations inside and outside the region including the United States if tensions spiral and misreadings and misinterpretations rule over the key waterway.
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The official, however, singled out China's series of provocative actions such as its pressure on the "long-standing Philippine presence at Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal" and its restriction on Scarborough Reef, called Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines.
"A pattern of provocative and unilateral behavior by China has raised serious concerns about China's intentions and willingness to adhere to international law and standards," Fuchs said.
Washington has pushed for peaceful management of disputes and recently brought up the issue in the Strategic Security and Economic Dialogue in Beijing last week, he said.
"US concerns are also regularly expressed at the highest levels to other claimants, and we consistently encourage all claimants to clarify their claims and base their claims on land features in the manner set out under the international law of the sea, as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention," Fuchs said.
He also reiterated the US' call for parties to use diplomatic means including arbitration to address the sea dispute.
The Philippines has filed its case stating its claims on zones and reefs challenging China's so-called historical position before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Fuchs also encouraged parties and others in the ASEAN to expedite a "meaningful" and binding code of conduct governing the disputed waters.