Singapore, 26 July (Argus) — The US wants to help resolve border disputes in the South China Sea through an international forum, putting it at odds with China that lays claim to the potential oil and gas riches of the area.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said on 23 July during a visit to Vietnam that the US supported “resolving the various territorial disputes without coercion”, adding that Washington opposed “the use or threat of force by any claimant”. Her remarks came after a US delegation to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (Asean) annual ministerial meeting in Hanoi.
But her comments have already angered Chinese officials, who were also present in Hanoi for separate meetings with their Asean counterparts. Its foreign ministry said the US had “played up the issue at the meeting”, calling Clinton's comments “an attack on China” and designed to give the international community the impression “that the situation in the South China Sea is a cause for grave concern”.
The border dispute focuses on sovereignty of the Spratly and Paracel islands. But it has become more complicated as China's hunger for energy resources has grown because of the archipelagos' strategic location along international shipping routes and its prospective oil and gas resources. The extent of these reserves has never been properly proven, with the dispute preventing any proper surveys. China has claimed the South China Sea could hold more than 200bn bl of oil, but a 1993-94 US Geological Survey estimate put total resources at 28bn bl.
Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia also lay claim to the Spratlys and are wary of China's intentions as its naval military might grows and the US' presence diminishes. Washington last year protested about harassment of one of its naval survey ship by Chinese vessels in the area, which Beijing claims as its exclusive economic zone. Similar claims in the East China Sea have long complicated China and Japan's relationship.
Clinton said all claimants should pursue their territorial claims in accordance with the UN convention on the law of the sea, a process that the US supports, along with China's 2002 joint declaration with the 10-member Asean on conduct in the South China Sea. The US Senate still has to ratify the 1982 UN convention, although Clinton said it is a “diplomatic priority”.
Exploration by China since the signing of the Asean declaration has brought into question its validity. Any exploration is technically a violation of the agreement, which bans the installation of any structures on or near any land until the various territorial conflicts have been settled.
Asean hosts Vietnam has been keen to pull the issue into the international spotlight, worried that China is keen to re-exert is sovereignty over the disputed region. International oil companies have been reluctant to step up development off upstream projects offshore southern Vietnam for fear of angering Beijing. China has had several military clashes with Vietnam over the Spratlys since 1974. China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia have also been involved in skirmishes in the past.
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