US senators submit resolution rapping China over sea disputes

PTI | 02:06 PM,Jun 14,2011

Washington, Jun 14 (Kyodo) Two US senators have submitted a resolution condemning "the repeated use of force by China" over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.The resolution was jointly introduced yesterday to the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee by Jim Webb, a Democrat from Virginia, and James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma.As examples of China''s use of force in the waters, the resolution says three Chinese vessels, including two security ships, ran into and disabled the cables of an exploration ship from Vietnam last Thursday.In March, the Philippines reported that China''s patrol boats attempted to ram one of its surveillance ships in the area.The resolution calls for "a peaceful, multilateral resolution to maritime territorial disputes in Southeast Asia" and supports the continued operations by US forces to "assert and defend freedom of navigation rights in international waters and air space in the South China Sea." Several countries, including China, the Philippines and Vietnam, have disputed territorial claims over the Spratly Islands and others in the South China Sea.(Kyodo)
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China warns outside nations to stay out of sea dispute

BEIJING, June 14 (Reuters) - China vehemently opposes external powers meddling in territorial disputes over the South China Sea, the main military newspaper said on Tuesday, after Vietnam asked for international help to defuse tensions over the potentially resource-rich region.

The warning in the Liberation Army Daily coincided with exercises conducted by Vietnam's military along its central coast, and follows a weekend statement by Hanoi welcoming efforts by the international community, including the United States, to help resolve the disputes.

China and Vietnam have hurled accusations at each other for weeks over what each sees as intrusions into its territorial waters by the other in a swath of ocean crossed by key shipping lanes and thought to hold large deposits of oil and gas.

Such accusations are not uncommon between China, Vietnam and the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which are also involved in long-standing maritime disputes in the South China Sea, but this bout of tension has run longer than usual.

The commentary in the Liberation Army Daily repeated Beijing's warning that other "unrelated" countries should back off, adding the Chinese military's weight to that message.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7HE0GR20110614