The United States and China clashed over Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea at a high-level meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Maritime Security.
The United States and China clashed on Monday at a high-level meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Maritime Security over Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea, which has led to attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and drug abuse. noticed also. and human trafficking in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose country this month chaired the council and chaired the virtual meeting, warned that the world’s oceans and seas which are the common heritage of all nations and peoples, are facing various threats. He pointed to challenges from piracy and terrorism, the creation of trade barriers by some countries, and climate change and natural disasters.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to China’s rapidly increasing claims over parts of the South China Sea, despite an international tribunal ruling five years earlier, rejecting its claims and warning that there or any conflict in the ocean “There will be serious global consequences for security and for commerce.”
“In the South China Sea, we have witnessed dangerous encounters between ships at sea and provocative actions to pursue illegal maritime claims,” he said. “The United States is clarifying its concerns about acts of intimidation and intimidation to allow other states to access its marine resources legally.”
In the latest incident last month, China’s military said it pursued a US warship from an area in the South China Sea that the US Navy had falsely claimed.
Blinken stressed that it is the “business, and even greater responsibility” of the United States and all other countries, “to protect the rules we all agree to abide by, and to resolve maritime disputes peacefully.” Huh.”
China’s deputy ambassador, Dai Bing, accused the United States of being “the greatest threat to peace and stability in the South China Sea” and described its “propaganda” to the Security Council as “completely politically motivated”.
He called the arbitration tribunal’s award to the Philippines “invalid and without any binding force”, claiming that there were “obvious errors in the determination of facts.”
The situation in the South China Sea is generally stable, he said, and Beijing is trying to reach a code of conduct for the sea with a 10-member union of Southeast Asian countries.
Dai also said that the US “has no credibility on maritime issues” because it is not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in the use of the world’s oceans. The United States has not ratified the convention, which entered into force in 1994, but has stated that it recognizes the treaty as part of international customary law.
Blinken told the council that when no country receives any consequences for unlawful maritime activities, “it fosters greater punishment and instability everywhere.”
Elsewhere, he said, countries are “provocatively and unlawfully advancing their interests,” including Iranian actions in the Persian Gulf and Russia’s actions in the Black Sea, the Kerch Strait and the Azov Sea in Ukraine’s internationally recognized territorial waters. Pointing towards.
Blinken said Washington was “convinced” that Iran attacked a Mercer oil tanker using explosive drones off Oman on July 29, killing a Briton and a Romanian. It is part of a pattern of “attacks and other provocative behavior” by Tehran that “threatens the freedom of navigation through this vital waterway, international shipping and commerce, and the lives of people on ships,” he said.
He was also sharply critical of Russia, which has worked relentlessly to strengthen its zone of control since Ukraine’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. “We see continued aggressive action against Ukraine, with dangerous incursions and harassment at sea and in the air of ships that are disrupting commerce and energy access,” he said.
Modi called for removing barriers to legitimate maritime trade that threatens the world economy, peacefully resolving maritime disputes, and jointly combating maritime threats from cyclones, tsunamis, pollution, piracy and over-fishing. to fight
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a very rare Security Council presence, called for “peaceful and responsible use of maritime spaces” and said that his country as a major maritime power “upholds the international rule of law in maritime security”. And doing a lot to strengthen.”
“Our aim is to help ensure security in the Persian Gulf region, in the Gulf of Guinea, in the Atlantic Ocean, where we have seen an increasing number of piracy and hostages,” he said. “This situation is aggravated by the fact that some countries cannot fight on their own against trans-national crime syndicates, pirates and terrorists.”
Putin, who spoke before Blinken and made no mention of Crimea, proposed setting up “a special structure within the United Nations system” to directly deal with maritime crime in various regions. He said it should involve experts, civil society representatives, academia and the private sector.
Ghada Valley, director-general of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told the council that the time-honored freedom of navigation “has become more and more under threat.”
They cited “acute challenges” from piracy, armed robbery, terrorism and smuggling of drugs, human, waste, nuclear material and firearms, as well as illegal fishing and illegal damage to the marine environment. It also warned of a “serious vulnerability” of submarine cables carrying the world’s Internet traffic.
It said a record consignment of cocaine was seized in European ports during the pandemic, according to its office’s 2021 World Drug Report.
As for piracy, Wally said 90% of kidnapping incidents have occurred in the Gulf of Guinea, where a new study found that “some six pirate groups with 30 to 50 members,” are now attacking in deep waters. May, mainly targeting international ships, to kidnap crew members for ransom.
The combined income of the pirates has been estimated at about $4 million a year, but the economic impact has been estimated at around $800 million, she said. The first half of 2020 saw a 20% increase in incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships compared to the same period in 2019.
Read also: Pentagon to require COVID vaccine for all US military servicemen by September 15
Read also: China: Wuhan completes citywide testing to curb COVID resurgence
.