US renews call on China to stop aggressive actions in disputed sea

MANILA, Philippines — The United States on Friday renewed its call on China to stop its aggressive actions in the South China Sea , saying a broader web of security alliances has emerged to preserve the rule of law in the disputed waters.

Washington’s top diplomat in Manila was joined by counterparts from key Western and Asian allies, including Japan and Australia, in a Manila forum to express alarm over increasing hostilities in the contested waters, particularly between China and the Philippines. They committed to help defend a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.

In the worst confrontation so far, Chinese coast guard personnel armed with knives, spears and an axe aboard motorboats repeatedly rammed and destroyed two Philippine navy supply vessels on June 17 in a chaotic faceoff at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal that injured Filipino sailors and led to the seizure of seven Philippine navy rifles.

China and the Philippines blamed one another for the incident, the latest in a series of high-seas confrontations since last year. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have been locked in the decades-long territorial conflicts.

"With the backing of an increasingly interconnected latticework of alliances and partnerships, the United States continues to urge the PRC to cease escalatory and dangerous harassment of Philippine vessels lawfully operating in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,” U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Carlson told the forum, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

China should “cease interfering with freedom of navigation and overflight of all states lawfully operating in the region,” Carlson said. “The volume of condemnation from the international community is loud and getting louder and it speaks to our common resolve in support of the international rules and norms that benefit us all."

The Biden administration has been strengthening an arc of security alliances in Asia as a countermeasure against an increasingly assertive China. That has dovetailed with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos’s efforts to boost his country’s territorial defense.

Beijing has opposed Washington’s alliance-building and has repeatedly vowed to defend its territorial interests at all costs.

The forum marked the anniversary of a 2016 ruling by an arbitration panel in The Hague, Netherlands that invalidated China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea based on the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. Beijing refused to join the Philippine-initiated arbitration, rejected the ruling and continues to defy it.

Dozens of protesters separately held a rally Friday to mark the anniversary of the arbitration ruling in suburban Quezon city, waving small Philippine flags and displaying posters that read: “China out!” and “Long live the arbitral ruling victory."

Australian Ambassador HK Yu said the June 17 incident at the shoal was “an escalation in a deeply concerning pattern of behavior by China … which threatens lives and creates risks of miscalculation and escalation.”

“The Philippines is not facing this challenge alone,” Yu said. “I can tell you this, you can count on Australia.”

"As allies, partners and friends, we stand united in navigating these uncertain waters and uphold the fundamental principles that safeguard our shared waters,” Ambassador Kazuya Endo of Japan told the forum that was attended by Manila-based diplomats and top Philippine security officials.

Japan, which has its own dispute with China in the East China Sea, has provided patrol ships and a coastal radar system to boost to the Philippines’ ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea.

Philippine national security adviser Eduardo Ano called for international support in pushing for Chinese compliance to the arbitration ruling.

Manila, he said, would seek peaceful resolutions to the disputes but “we will continue to stand our ground and push back against coercion, interference, malign influence and other tactics that seeks to jeopardize our security.”

菲律宾马尼拉——美国周五再次呼吁中国停止在南海的侵略性行动，并表示，为了维护争议水域的法治，已经形成了一张更广泛的安全联盟网络。

美国驻马尼拉最高外交官与包括日本和澳大利亚在内的西方及亚洲主要盟友的同行齐聚马尼拉，在一个论坛上对争议水域，特别是中菲之间日益加剧的敌对行动表示关切。他们承诺将共同维护印太地区基于规则的秩序。

在迄今为止最严重的冲突中，6月17日，中国海警人员乘坐摩托艇，手持刀、矛和斧，在有争议的仁爱礁附近混乱地反复撞击并摧毁了两艘菲律宾海军补给船，导致菲律宾水兵受伤，并缴获了7支菲律宾海军步枪。

中国和菲律宾就此次事件互相指责，这是自去年以来一系列公海冲突中的最新一起。除中国和菲律宾外，越南、马来西亚、文莱和台湾也深陷长达数十年的领土争端。

“在日益紧密相连的联盟和伙伴关系网络的支持下，美国继续敦促中华人民共和国停止对在菲律宾专属经济区合法运营的菲律宾船只进行不断升级的危险骚扰，”美国驻菲律宾大使玛丽凯·卡尔森在论坛上表示，她指的是中华人民共和国。

卡尔森表示，中国应该“停止干涉所有在该地区合法运营的国家的航行和飞越自由”。“国际社会的谴责之声越来越响亮，这体现了我们共同维护惠及我们所有人的国际规则和准则的决心。”

拜登政府一直在加强在亚洲的安全联盟，以此应对日益强势的中国。这与菲律宾总统费迪南德·马科斯加强国家领土防御的努力不谋而合。

北京一直反对华盛顿的联盟建设，并多次誓言不惜一切代价捍卫其领土利益。

此次论坛纪念了2016年荷兰海牙仲裁庭作出的裁决，该裁决认定中国依据《联合国海洋法公约》在南海提出的广泛主张无效。北京拒绝参与菲律宾发起的仲裁，拒绝接受该裁决，并继续藐视该裁决。

周五，数十名抗议者在奎松市郊区分别举行集会，纪念仲裁裁决周年，他们挥舞着小小的菲律宾国旗，并展示着写有“中国滚出去！”和“仲裁裁决胜利万岁！”的标语。

澳大利亚驻华大使余海平表示，6月17日发生在浅滩的事件是“中国令人深感担忧的行为模式的升级……这种行为威胁生命，并造成误判和局势升级的风险”。

“菲律宾并非孤军奋战，”余说。“我可以告诉你们，你们可以信赖澳大利亚。”

“作为盟友、伙伴和朋友，我们团结一致，共同应对这些不确定的局面，并维护保障我们共同水域的基本原则，”日本驻菲律宾大使远藤和也向出席论坛的马尼拉外交官和菲律宾高级安全官员表示。

日本与中国在东海存在争端，但日本已向菲律宾提供巡逻舰和海岸雷达系统，以增强菲律宾在南海捍卫其领土利益的能力。

菲律宾国家安全顾问爱德华多·阿诺呼吁国际社会支持，敦促中国遵守仲裁裁决。

他说，马尼拉将寻求和平解决争端，但“我们将继续坚持立场，反击胁迫、干涉、恶意影响和其他企图危害我们安全的手段”。