Issa urges House colleagues to learn from South China Sea crises

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Ca., urged his fellow members of Congress to educate themselves on the crises within the South China Sea region and protect international law.

The first keynote speaker at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Fourteenth Annual South China Sea Conference said forces in the region need to operate legally within international law, which the People’s Republic of China has not been doing.

Issa, a senior member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, said the transition of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China was peaceful, with a gradual change promise including two economic systems under one government. That promise was broken, he said.

“That promise will be broken again if Taiwan were to be merged officially back into China,” Issa said. “So, for the time being, the United States has to put a pause on closer relations with China, on turning over more power to China.”

Two protesters disrupted the representative’s keynote speech a couple minutes apart chanting “U.S. bases out now,” saying U.S. involvement and militarization in the Philippines should cease. Later, six more protesters with signs interrupted the keynote. All were escorted out of the event as their voices rang through the building.

“Every day I try to remind myself that the disruption of other people’s opportunity to express their free views is sometimes thwarted by people who silence them,” Issa said after the first two protesters left.

“So, every day, I close my windows and doors and try not to hear too much of that amplified speech, but at the same time, we are having a lively discussion about the best way not to put the Philippines in harm’s way and to keep them out of harm’s way,” Issa said.

Issa said there is “aggressive” activity in the region where rights to free travel on the open seas and territorial rights of Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines are being squashed by government backed Chinese vessels every day.

“So, we don’t have the luxury of saying, do nothing,” Issa said. “If we do nothing, we will see a swallowing up, directly and indirectly, of these countries and these territories.”

To stop aggressive activity on the waters, Issa said training and defense capabilities need to increase instead of just supplying boots on the group. He said sometimes countries in the region need to have their own form of a Coast Guard,

“We are looking at defense capability, and hopefully, if my aspirations and Senator Hagerty and others realize, we will be increasing the ability for the Philippines and throughout the region, people simply to say the rules of international law need to be obeyed, and to get them obeyed, sometimes you need to have your own, and I’ll call it Coast Guard, because I believe that’s really what a big part of it will be,” Issa said.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, the conference’s afternoon keynote, said the U.S.’ alliance and commitments with the Philippines are “ironclad,” as the U.S. continues to support rights to fly, sail and operate where international law allows.

“Looking back, 2023 was a transformative year for making U.S. force posture in the Indo-Pacific more mobile, distributed, resilient and lethal,” Ratner said.

U.S. Force Posture Initiatives are included in the alliance with the Philippines to show military strength and readiness. Ratner said this year’s budget is an opportunity to deliver on the new agreements on force posture with the Philippines.

Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.

加州共和党众议员达雷尔·伊萨敦促国会其他成员了解南海地区的危机，并保护国际法。

战略与国际研究中心第十四届南海年会的首位主旨演讲嘉宾表示，该地区的各方力量需要在国际法框架内合法行事，而中华人民共和国并没有这样做。

众议院外交关系委员会资深成员伊萨表示，香港从英国过渡到中国的过程是和平的，并承诺逐步变革，包括在同一政府下实行两种经济制度。他说，这一承诺被违背了。

伊萨表示：“如果台湾正式并入中国，那么这个承诺将再次被打破。因此，目前美国必须暂停与中国建立更紧密的关系，暂停向中国移交更多权力。”

两名抗议者相隔几分钟先后打断了这位代表的主旨演讲，他们高喊“美军基地立即撤出”，要求停止美国在菲律宾的军事行动和军事化。随后，又有六名举着标语的抗议者打断了演讲。他们的抗议声响彻整栋大楼，最终都被护送出了会场。

“我每天都提醒自己，有些人会通过压制他人来阻止他们自由表达观点，”伊萨在前两名抗议者离开后说道。

“所以，我每天都关上门窗，尽量不去听那些扩音器播放的讲话，但与此同时，我们也在热烈讨论如何才能最好地避免让菲律宾陷入危险，并保护他们免受伤害，”伊萨说。

伊萨表示，该地区存在“咄咄逼人”的活动，越南、台湾和菲律宾在公海的自由航行权和领土权利每天都受到中国政府支持的船只的践踏。

“所以，我们没有袖手旁观的余地，”伊萨说。“如果我们什么都不做，我们将眼睁睁地看着这些国家和地区被直接或间接地吞并。”

伊萨表示，为了制止水域上的侵略性活动，需要加强训练和防御能力，而不仅仅是向该部队增派兵力。他还说，该地区的一些国家有时需要建立自己的海岸警卫队。

“我们正在研究国防能力，希望我和哈格蒂参议员以及其他人的想法能够实现，我们将提高菲律宾乃至整个地区的能力，让人们明白国际法规则必须得到遵守，而要让这些规则得到遵守，有时你需要拥有自己的力量，我称之为海岸警卫队，因为我相信这才是它真正发挥重要作用的地方，”伊萨说道。

美国国防部负责印太安全事务的助理部长伊莱·拉特纳在会议下午的主旨演讲中表示，美国与菲律宾的联盟和承诺是“牢不可破的”，因为美国将继续支持在国际法允许的范围内飞行、航行和行动的权利。

拉特纳说：“回顾过去，2023 年是具有变革意义的一年，它使美国在印太地区的军事态势更加机动、分散、更具韧性和杀伤力。”

美国军力态势倡议是美菲联盟的一部分，旨在展示美军实力和战备状态。拉特纳表示，今年的预算是落实与菲律宾就军力态势达成的新协议的契机。

克里斯蒂娜·斯塔西斯是一位记者，主要报道国防工业、国家安全、军事/退伍军人事务等领域的新闻。她曾于2024年在《防务新闻》担任编辑助理，协助Sightline媒体集团旗下新闻编辑室处理突发新闻。