The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

China opposed the United States sending the George
Washington aircraft carrier strike group to the troubled
waters. Chinese argued that the true intent of this
planned U.S. show of force was not to deter North
Korea, for that “outlawed” nation has never been deterred
anyway, but to tell the Chinese that they should
not try to push the U.S. forces out of the EEZ.
The push and shove between the two nations came
to a head in July in Hanoi, Vietnam, at the ASEAN
Regional Forum. Secretary Clinton came prepared to
give China an official response on the South China Sea
issues. She declared the following:
• The United States has a national interest in the
freedom of navigation, open access to Asia’s
maritime commons, and respect for international
law in the South China Sea.
• The United States supports a collaborative diplomatic
process by all claimants for resolving
the various territorial disputes without coercion.
We oppose the use or threat of force by
any claimant.
• While the United States does not take sides on
the competing territorial disputes over land
features in the South China Sea, we believe
claimants should pursue their territorial claims
and accompanying rights to maritime space
in accordance with the UN Convention on the
Law of the Sea. Consistent with customary international
law, legitimate claims to maritime
space in the South China Sea should be derived
solely from legitimate claims to land features. 138
The Chinese charged that, taken out of context,
the above sounded righteous; but delivered at the
ASEAN Regional Forum, every foreign minister in the
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