After slamming China over its aggressive activities along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in Sri Lanka and Maldives, the US has now targeted the Dragon over its “illegitimate claims” in South China Sea (SCS).
After calling China a “predator” in Sri Lanka and sending out a strong message to it from Maldives, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has now packed a powerful punch to Beijing for pressing ahead with attempts to enforce its disputed claims in the SCS. He was in Indonesia on Thursday, seeking to give impetus to the US mission to scuttle Dragon’s influence in the South China Sea.
Sources told The Daily Guardian that the US has now decided to be more aggressive in its approach to tackle Chinese growing activities aimed to exercise its muscle in the South China Sea.
Apart from Indonesia, the US has engaged Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia, assuring the leaderships of these countries of Washington’s full cooperation and support to deal with the Dragon in SCS. China’s assertiveness in SCS has led to massive spat with these nations.
Signaling US’ more stringent action in future, Pompeo said that “the US now regards virtually all Chinese maritime claims outside its internationally recognized waters to be illegitimate.”
While attending 2+2 meet with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Pompeo had a detailed discussion over Chinese aggression in oceanic regions including Indian Ocean and SCS. In a message to Beijing, India and US had reiterated their commitment to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region. It was a direct challenge to China’s expansionist moves in South China Sea,” sources said.
While addressing the media in Indonesia, Pompeo said “China cannot legally claim the James Shoal near Malaysia, waters surrounding the Vanguard Bank off Vietnam, the Luconia Shoals near Brunei or Natuna Besar off Indonesia.”
The US Secretary of State also admired Jakarta for its ‘decisive action’ to protect maritime sovereignty around Natuna Island, which China claims as its territory. “China’s growing influence in the oceanic regions has to be counterbalanced by the US, and Pompeo has set the stage of what is in store for Beijing,” says an Indian diplomat.
Pompeo held a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, in which the two leaders discussed the situation in the South China Sea. He hailed Indonesia’s “courageous leadership” within ASEAN and at the United Nations for rejecting “unlawful claims” made by the Chinese Communist Party in the South China Sea.
That Indonesia has agreed to enhance defence cooperation with the United States will give much-needed impetus to Washington’s campaign to rein in China. “The ministers reiterated their commitment to maintaining a free, open, inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific built on a rules-based international order, underpinned by ASEAN centrality, rule of law, sustainable and transparent infrastructure investment, freedom of navigation and overflight, mutual respect for sovereignty, and peaceful resolution of disputes,” the joint statement said.