US: No reason for China to overreact to drills

There is no reason for China to overreact to the joint maritime patrol conducted by Manila, Washington, Tokyo, and Canberra in the South China Sea as the activity is in line with freedom of navigation and international law, a White House official said yesterday.

“I can’t speak for the PRC (People’s Republic of China) reaction, one way or another, except to say there is no reason to overreact to this,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said at a press briefing last Wednesday here.

“This is about freedom of navigation. It’s about adherence to international law, it’s about proving the simple point that we and our allies will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law permits us to do, and it does in the South China Sea, and we did,” he added.

Kirby explained that the quadrilateral exercise was about “reconfirming a simple principle about international maritime law and international waters.”

The Philippines, US, Japan and Australia conducted joint drills within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone last Sunday in a move widely seen as a response to China’s aggressive actions and incursions in the area.

China, which claims historic rights over virtually the entire South China Sea, responded to the joint exercise by conducting its own maritime drill.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said the Philippines is approaching the situation in the South China Sea in a multilateral way, noting that it is talking not just to western countries but also to its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Romualdez expressed hope that the Philippines would be able to have a serious dialogue with China on many of these issues surrounding the dispute.

“But we have to start from the fact that we have to accept that there is such a thing as a rule of law and the sovereignty of each nation,” the envoy added.