The letter of four US Senators

In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday, the Senators urge the Administration to put China’s expansionist behavior in the East Sea at the center of its discussions at the upcoming Regional Forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bangkok on Friday. The letter said that China’s assertive behavior in the Exclusive Economic Zones of other claimant states, its use of reclaimed and militarized artificial features as platforms for coercion, its decision to ignore the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling against its territorial claims, and its efforts to pressure ASEAN to negotiate a restrictive Code of Conduct, deserve greater US attention, leadership, and cooperation with its allies and partners. The Senators said an East Sea where international law is respected, freedom of navigation is ensured, commerce flows freely, multilateral regional organizations are central, and regional countries are not subject to coercion is crucial to American interests in the Indo-Pacific. China’s intimidation, coercion, rejection of peaceful diplomatic arbitration, and threats of the use of force over the past several years represent a serious challenge to those interests. The four Senators urged State Secretary Pompeo to use the upcoming meeting in Bangkok as an opportunity to begin to forge such a consensus to protect the rights of US allies and partners under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, end Chinese infringement of the legitimate rights of other coastal states, and build respect for international law and institutions.