U.S. repeats warning to China against attack on Philippine forces

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Sunday repeated a warning to China that an attack on Philippine armed forces in the South China Sea would trigger a 1951 U.S.-Philippines mutual defense treaty.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the comment in a written statement marking the fifth anniversary of a ruling by an arbitration tribunal repudiating China's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea.

China - which lays claim to most of the waters within a so-called Nine Dash Line, which is also contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam - reiterated on Friday that Beijing did not accept the ruling.

"The United States reaffirms its July 13, 2020 policy regarding maritime claims in the South China Sea," Blinken said, referring to the rejection by former President Donald Trump's administration of China's claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-repeats-warning-china-against-020429667.html

[soryang]

1. China claims the EEZs in the South China Sea

principally associated with the largest island in the Paracels, Woody Island, and the largest island in the Spratly Islands, Taiping. The South China Sea is an international waterway. It isn't a territorial claim as far as it pertains to the EEZs, but a maritime claim to economic rights. The maritime claims of the neighboring countries are what the dispute is primarily about. These claims either overlap or are in direct conflict. The western media consistently fail to make this clear.