US: Chinese acts a threat to peace, stability

MANILA, Philippines — The latest acts of Chinese aggression in the South China Sea undermine peace and stability in the region, the United States said yesterday.

Australia and Japan also released statements on the China Coast Guard’s blocking and firing water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels on a resupply mission near Ayungin Shoal on Saturday.

After the incident, the US Department of State yesterday said that “such actions by China are inconsistent with international law and are the latest in repeated threats to status quo in the South China Sea, directly threatening regional peace and stability.”

“The United States reaffirms an armed attack on Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces — including those of its Coast Guard in the South China Sea — would invoke US mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 US Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty,” the State Department said in a statement.

“Totally unacceptable any harassment & actions which infringe on lawful activities of the sea and endanger the navigational safety,” Ambassador of Japan Kazuhiko Koshikawa posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“Australia is concerned by the latest actions directed against the Philippines, which are dangerous and destabilising,” Australian Ambassador Hae Kyong Yu also wrote on X.

Both Japan and Australia called for upholding the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea. Japan mentioned the 2016 arbitral award issued by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in favor of the Philippines.

The ruling invalidated China’s “historic rights” claim over the entire South China Sea and affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

The US State Department cited the 2016 ruling, stating that China has “no lawful claim to the maritime area around Second Thomas Shoal, which is located well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.”

Pursuant to the 1982 UNCLOS, which China is a signatory to, the arbitral decision is final and legally binding in China and the Philippines, it added.

In latest developments, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Armed Forces of the Philippines, European Union Ambassador Luc Véron, Canadian Ambassador David Hartman and the British Embassy Manila have also issued statements.