China has no legal basis for South China Sea claims, US says

Washington State Jan. 25 ANI China has not provided any legal basis for its claims in the South China SeaChina Sea SCS, the acting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Fisheries, and Polar Affairs said on Monday Washington's stand against China's unlawful maritime claims in the region.

The US State Department said that China's claim of a wide swathe of the South China SeaChina Sea is inconsistent with the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.

The United States reiterates that China has not offered any legal basis to support its maritime claims, Constance Arvis told a briefing, as quoted by Sputnik.

Arvis said the US continues to call on China to stop its coercive activities. The deputy assistant secretary stated that China's claims in the South China SeaChina Sea have no basis in international law.

Jung Pak, deputy secretary of state, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said Washington is committed to the region and will uphold the rights of allies and partners.

She stressed that the US and Japan are very committed to freedom of navigation and other lawful uses of the sea.

For decades, Beijing has been disputing the status of a number of territories in the South China SeaChina Sea to which it claims, mainly the Paracel and Spratly islands and the Scarborough Shoal.

China considers the Spratly Archipelago to be its territory despite the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling that there was no legal basis for China's maritime claims.

On Sunday, US aircraft carriers entered the SCS to begin operations amid heightened tensions between China and Taiwan.

According to a statement from the US Navy, the US Navy's Carrier Strike Groups Carl Vinson and Abraham Lincoln will engage in operations aimed at strengthening maritime integrated-at- sea operations and combat readiness.