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(Beijing) China said on Tuesday that the United States has no legal right to intervene in the South China Sea, following Washington's pledge to back the Philippines in the event of a conflict with Beijing in the vast disputed waters.
China claims all the islands in the South China Sea. Other riparian countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also have competing and sometimes overlapping claims.
In recent months, tensions between China and the Philippines — which are increasingly asserting their territorial claims — have reached their lowest level in years.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday affirmed in Manila the United States' “iron armor” commitment to defend the Philippines in the event of a conflict with China.
“The United States is not part of the South China Sea, so (therefore) it has no right to intervene in disputes between China and the Philippines,” a spokesperson told reporters. Chinese Diplomatic Word, Lin Jian.
China regularly accuses the US of supporting countries with rival territorial claims to counter its growing power.
As a result, the Philippines has military agreements with the United States and Australia.
“Military cooperation between the US and the Philippines should not undermine China's sovereignty, rights and maritime interests in the South China Sea, much less serve as a platform for the Philippines' illegal claims,” Lin Jian felt.
The spokesperson was specifically asked about comments made earlier by Antony Blinken during his visit to the Philippines.
China is concerned about strengthening military ties between the US and the Philippines, which the Asian giant sees as a way to counter its territorial claims in the region.
Seized by the Philippines, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, headquartered in the Netherlands, rejected the Chinese claims in 2016, deeming them to have no legal basis.
Beijing condemned the decision, particularly considering that the Philippines had not complied with the practice before this jurisdiction.
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