COMMENT | Last month, Southeast Asia’s leaders – including Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin – issued a strong statement at the Asean Summit, agreeing that South China Sea disputes must be resolved in line with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

That message was timely, given the July 12 anniversary of the 2016 ruling by the South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal, which rejected the People’s Republic of China’s over-reaching maritime claims in waters under the Philippines’ jurisdiction as being unfounded under international law.

The Asean statement stands as a rebuke of Beijing’s bolstering of its military bases through destructive land reclamation and construction in the contested Spratlys with new aircraft deployments and so-called “research stations.”

The US applauds the unity of purpose and the clear impact that Asean member nations can have in preserving regional and international freedom of movement.

As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated on July 13, “Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them.”

The secretary added that in the South China Sea “we seek to preserve peace and stability, uphold freedom of the seas in a manner consistent with international law, maintain the unimpeded flow of commerce, and oppose any attempt to use coercion or force to settle disputes.”

China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea ...