US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo (Source: AFP/VNA) Washington DC (VNA) – US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo affirmed on July 13 that the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea (called the East Sea in Vietnam) are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them.
“As such, the United States rejects any PRC maritime claim in the waters surrounding Vanguard Bank (off Vietnam), Luconia Shoals (off Malaysia), waters in Brunei’s EEZ, and Natuna Besar (off Indonesia),” Pompeo said in a press statement about the US position on maritime claims in the South China Sea.
He stressed that any action conducted by China to harass other states’ fishing or hydrocarbon development in these waters – or to carry out such activities unilaterally – is unlawful./.
VNA
