HANOI: The United States and Vietnam on Monday warned against the “threat or use of force” in the disputed South China Sea, days after the latest clash between Chinese vessels.
President Joe Biden and Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong said competing claims to the strategic waterway must be settled according to international standards.
Beijing claims almost the entire sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade pass annually, and has ignored an international court ruling that its claim has no legal basis.
“The leaders emphasized their unwavering support for the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, without the threat or use of force,” Biden and Trong said in a joint statement.
They also called for “freedom of navigation and overflight and unrestricted lawful trade in the South China Sea.”
The announcement came a day after Biden and Trong reached an agreement to strengthen collaboration, which was largely viewed as a move to confront China’s growing assertiveness in the region.
Washington is at loggerheads with Beijing on a range of issues, including trade, security, human rights and climate change, and is seeking to strengthen its network of allies to counter Chinese influence.
Vietnam, which waged war with China from 1979 to 1988, is wary of its giant northern neighbor and is one of a handful of countries with claims to the many islets and headlands that dot the South China Sea.
Last week, the Philippines accused Chinese coast guard and “militia” boats of harassing two of its own coast guard vessels while they were carrying supplies to Philippine troops at the second Thomas Shoal.
In 1999, the Philippine Navy deliberately grounded an old ship on the shoal to check China’s advance in the waters.
China is deploying hundreds of vessels to patrol the South China Sea and swarm the reefs.
The Philippines, a longtime U.S. ally, has bases on nine reefs and islands in the Spratly Islands — which, along with the Paracel Islands, are also claimed by Vietnam.
Manila says Chinese coast guard and navy ships routinely block or shadow Philippine ships in disputed waters.
Tensions between Manila and Beijing flared last month when Chinese coast guard vessels used water cannons against a Philippine supply mission to the reef, preventing one of the boats from delivering its cargo.
