US urges China to avoid provocative actions in South China Sea
Iran Press TV
Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:24PM GMT
The United States has called on China to "refrain from provocative actions in the South China Sea" after two Chinese coastguard ships reportedly tried to block a Philippine vessel in the tense sea last week.
On Saturday, the Philippine vessel dashed for shallow waters around the Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, to dodge the Chinese ships that attempted to block its path to deliver food, water and fresh troops to a military outpost on the shoal, according to Reuters news agency.
On Monday, the US State Department called the attempted Chinese blockade around the disputed reef 'a provocative and destabilizing action'.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said that the Philippines had been permitted to resupply troops to the reef because the country has maintained a naval base there since before a 2002 declaration of conduct in the South China Sea.
'As a treaty ally of the Republic of the Philippines, the United States urges China to refrain from further provocative behavior by allowing the Philippines to continue to maintain its presence at Second Thomas Shoal,' she said.
Beijing claims the South China Sea in its entirety, while other countries including the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam also have claims to the area and are in dispute with China.
China and Japan have long been locked in a dispute for more than a decade over the sovereignty of uninhabited islands in the South China Sea - what are called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan - which are believed to have vast natural resources.
GJH/GJH
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