Beijing — The European Union called on China on Saturday to endanger peace in the South China Sea, rejecting most of China’s claims for sea sovereignty, but urging all parties to comply with Beijing’s 2016 court ruling. ..
Last week, the EU announced a new policy aimed at strengthening its influence in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s emerging forces.
The Philippines told China on Friday that it was unable to withdraw a “threatening” boat that Manila may have called Julian Felipe Reef, a sea militia around the disputed Witsan Reef. Protested.
“Tensions in the South China Sea, including the recent presence of large Chinese vessels on cattle reefs, are jeopardizing peace and stability in the region,” an EU spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.
The EU has reiterated strong opposition to “one-sided actions that could undermine regional stability and order under international rules.”
It urged all parties to settle the dispute peacefully in accordance with international law and emphasized the 2016 international arbitration, which ruled in favor of the Philippines while overriding most of China’s claims in the South China Sea.
China has rejected the EU’s accusations that the Whitson Reef vessel, which China calls the Whitson Reef, endangered peace and security.
In a statement on Saturday, China’s delegation to the EU said that coral reefs are part of the Spratly Islands of China, or that Chinese fishing boats operate there and protect them from the wind “reasonably and”. It was repeatedly stated that it was “legal.”
A Chinese statement also dismissed the 2016 referee’s ruling as “invalid,” arguing that China’s sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea were “formed over a long history and consistent with international law.” ..
“The South China Sea should not be a tool for certain countries to contain and suppress China, much less a battleground for competition between the great powers,” a Chinese statement said.
China has heard US President Joe Biden’s call for a “cooperative approach” to China, which has been realized in the form of security crackdowns in Hong Kong and sanctions against Uighur mass slaughter, in Europe and other countries. I am more and more concerned about tilting.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington “is on the side of its ally, the Philippines,” in the face of China’s large militia at Whitsan Reef last month.
Yew Lun Tian