The US must support its allies in the Asia Pacific against "Chinese aggression" in the South China Sea, the chairperson of the US House committee on foreign affairs said shortly before a hearing Wednesday that focused on examining current US policy in the region amid China's rising clout.
The comments, which analysts suggest reflect an increasingly prevailing sentiment by US authorities to continue engaging in the South China Sea disputes, came days after the Philippines officially named waters including islets and shoals claimed by Beijing as the "West Philippine Sea."
"China's aggressive tactics of bullying and coercion in the South China Sea cannot be tolerated," Republican congresswoman Ilena Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the committee, said Wednesday.
"We must continue to strongly support our allies and our interests in the region and make it clear to the rulers in Beijing that the South China Sea and the Western Pacific are not theirs for the taking," she said in an online statement.
Though the hearings of the US House of Representatives do not represent the stand of the US government and the House of Representatives is less powerful than the Senate, it shows that the US, despite its stated neutral position, is giving signs of encouragement to neighboring countries that have territorial disputes with China to stand against Beijing's claims amid the ongoing Sino-Japanese island row, said Tao Wenzhao, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Concerning the ongoing Diaoyu Islands conflict, Bonnie Glaser, senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in the hearing that despite the US's neutral stance, the US must take actions under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the US and Japan should Japan come "under attack." However, Peter Brookes, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs, argued that the actions could only be taken after going through complicated procedures set by the US constitution, Phoenix TV reported.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday that the Philippines' recent move will not affect China's sovereignty over areas within the sea.
"Manila has been using the term 'West Philippine Sea' since June last year. The new presidential order is a continuation of the Philippine policy, but the timing could lead to reasonable speculation that it is trying to fuel tensions in order to fish for advantage," said Zhuang Guotu, dean of the School of Southeast Asian Studies at Xiamen University.
China does not have to respond immediately to this "trick" as it does not affect the current situation, he said, noting that the Philippines' move would only backfire and hurt bilateral ties.