Pompeo: US visas to be restricted on Chinese linked to sea row

THE United States (US) is set to impose visa restrictions on Chinese citizens responsible for, or complicit in, the reclamation and militarization of the South China Sea (SCS), US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said on Wednesday.

He also said that Chinese individuals who promote China’s use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants in the Spratlys to inhibit their access to offshore resources in the area will be covered by visa restrictions.

“These individuals will now be inadmissible into the United States, and their immediate family members may be subject to visa restrictions as well,” Pompeo said in a statement shared by the US Embassy in the Philippines.

China, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines have overlapping claims in the Spratlys believed rich in gas and mineral deposits.

Pompeo said the international community will not allow China to turn the SCS into its “maritime empire.”

On Twitter, Pompeo said, “The US is taking action today to support freedom of the seas and to oppose coercion of our Southeast Asian allies and partners. We must not allow Beijing’s campaign of bullying to prevent access to vital offshore resources and damage critical ecosystems.”

The US Department of Commerce has also added 24 Chinese state-owned enterprises to the so-called Entity List, including several subsidiaries of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), for helping build “military islands” in the SCS.

The embassy said the list “is a tool used to restrict the export, re-export, and transfer (in-country) of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations to persons reasonably believed to be involved in activities contrary to US national security or US foreign relations interests.”

Pompeo said China “must not be allowed to use CCCC and other state-owned enterprises as weapons to impose an expansionist agenda.”

China took control of most parts of the disputed areas in the SCS or West Philippine Sea (WPS) in 2015 through reclamation works and construction of military facilities on reefs and islets being claimed by both Manila and Beijing.

In May 2018, China deployed missiles in some of the islets and reefs being claimed by the Philippines such as in Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef, Zamora (Subi) Reef, and Panganiban (Mischief) Reef–all within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“Since 2013, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has used its state-owned enterprises to dredge and reclaim more than 3,000 acres on disputed features in the South China Sea, destabilizing the region, trampling on the sovereign rights of its neighbors, and causing untold environmental devastation,” Pompeo said.

He noted that CCCC led the “destructive dredging of the PRC’s South China Sea outposts and is also one of the leading contractors used by Beijing in its global ‘One Belt One Road’ strategy.”

“The United States will act until we see Beijing discontinue its coercive behavior in the South China Sea, and we will continue to stand with allies and partners in resisting this destabilizing activity,” Pompeo added.

The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines turned to Twitter to debunk Pompeo’s allegation that China seeks global hegemony. He also claimed that China threatens international agreements and treats international agreements as conduits for global dominance.

“No matter what stage of development it reaches, China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion. That’s what China says, and also what it does,” the embassy tweeted Wednesday evening.

“China firmly upholds the international system with the UN (United Nations) at its core and an international order based on international law, and firmly upholds the purposes and principles of UN Charter and honors the spirit of contract and the international rule of law,” it added.

Source: TheManila Times