South China Sea: Australia in three-way rebuke of China

A Chinese H-6K bomber patrols the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Photo: Xinhua/AP

SMH | Jul 26, 2016

Beijing: The Australian government has issued a strong joint statement with the United States and Japan calling on China to abide by a Hague tribunal’s ruling on the South China Sea.

The three countries issued the statement late on Monday at the conclusion of the trilateral strategic dialogue held between Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and her US counterpart John Kerry and Japan’s Fumio Kishida, on the sidelines of a South-east Asian regional security conference in Vientiane, Laos.

The statement, tellingly, went further than a cautious joint statement produced by then 10 ASEAN member nations, meeting for the first time after the July 12 arbitration which came down overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines, and against China. The ASEAN statement failed to directly mention the ruling, highlighting the divide between countries in the region as Beijing continues to exert both diplomatic and economic pressure.

In contrast, the direct language and coordinated nature of the trilateral statement from Australia, Japan and the United States is likely to further antagonise China which has already lashed out at the respective countries’ support of the Hague ruling. Beijing sees such statements as proof of US-led outside interference and evidence that it and its strategic allies are motivated by a desire to contain China’s rise.

“The ministers expressed their strong support for the rule of law and called on China and the Philippines to abide by the Arbitral Tribunal’s Award of July 12 in the Philippines-China arbitration, which is final and legally binding on both parties,” the trilateral statement said. “The ministers stressed that this is a crucial opportunity for the region to uphold the existing rules-based international order and to show respect for international law.”

The statement also expressed “strong opposition” to any coercive unilateral actions that could alter the status quo in the South China Sea, while urging all states “to refrain from such actions as large-scale land reclamation, and the construction of outposts as well as the use of those outposts for military purposes”.

Thomas Mensah, jurist and diplomat from Ghana, stood up to China while presiding over the tribunal’s arbitration. Photo: Getty Images

The tribunal at the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China’s claim to almost all of South China Sea was unfounded. Implicit in the ruling is that China has no standing in its other disputes with Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam, which also are ASEAN members.

But ASEAN became divided because of China’s divide-and-rule diplomacy by winning support from Cambodia, and to some extent Laos, which resulted in the grouping issuing the bland joint statement.

In Vientiane, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for an end to the “political manipulation and sensationalisation” of the South China Sea and reiterated a desire for the US to help support a return to direct bilateral negotiations between Beijing and Manila. While in a meeting with Mr Kishida, he urged Japan, which is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes, to “avoid interfering in and hyping up the maritime spats”, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.