BEIJING: China warned the United States on Tuesday that it has “no right to intervene” in its maritime disputes with the Philippines after another clash near a disputed reef in the South China Sea.
China and the Philippines have had repeated confrontations in the waters over the past year, including around a warship, grounded in 1999 by Manila on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, which hosts a garrison.
Both countries said on Monday that their coast guard ships had collided near the disputed Sabina Shoal, located 140 kilometers west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometers from Hainan island, the closest Chinese landmass.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
The United States condemned the “dangerous actions” against “lawful Philippine maritime operations” on Monday after the latest clash.
“These actions are the latest examples of (China) using dangerous and escalatory measures to enforce its expansive and unlawful South China Sea maritime claims,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.
Asked about Patel’s remarks on Tuesday, his Chinese counterpart Mao Ning defended Beijing’s “legal measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”
“The US is not a party in the South China Sea and has no right to intervene in maritime disputes between China and the Philippines,” Mao told a regular briefing.
“The US should stop provoking confrontation in the South China Sea, not disrupt regional stability and not escalate tensions,” Mao said.
Analysts have said Beijing’s aim is to push eastwards from the Second Thomas Shoal toward the neighboring Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands, encroaching on Manila’s exclusive economic zone and normalizing Chinese control of the area.
The confrontations have echoes of 2012 when Beijing took control of Scarborough Shoal, another strategic feature in the South China Sea closest to the Philippines.
China says US has ‘no right to intervene’ in South China Sea disputes
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China says US has ‘no right to intervene’ in South China Sea disputes
- The US condemned the ‘dangerous actions’ against ‘lawful Philippine maritime operations’ on Monday after the latest clash
- ‘The US is not a party in the South China Sea and has no right to intervene in maritime disputes between China and the Philippines’
Most of Iranian women’s soccer team leave Australia
GOLD COAST: The Iranian women’s soccer team left Australia without seven squad members after tearful protests of their departure outside Sydney Airport and frantic final efforts inside the terminal by Australian officials, who sought to ensure the women understood they were being offered asylum.
As the team’s flight time drew nearer and they passed through security late on Tuesday, each woman was taken aside to meet alone with officials who explained through interpreters that they could choose not to return to Iran.
Before the team traveled to the airport, seven women had accepted humanitarian visas allowing them to remain permanently in Australia and were ushered to a safe location by Australian police officers.
One has since changed her mind, underscoring the tense and precarious nature of their decisions.
“In Australia, people are able to change their mind,” said Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who had hours earlier posted photos of the seven women granted humanitarian visas to his social media accounts, their identities clearly visible.
After what Burke described as “emotional” meetings between the remaining women who reached the airport and Australian officials, the rest of the team declined offers of asylum and boarded their flight.
It was a dramatic conclusion to an episode that had gripped Australia since the Iranian team’s first game at the Asian Cup soccer tournament, when they remained silent during their national anthem.
