South China Sea

Australia’s 23 July statement to the UN Secretary-General in formal response to a series of diplomatic exchanges between Malaysia, China and other states is the clearest to date on legal issues associated with China’s South China Sea maritime claims. Diplomatically the statement is unremarkable, legally though, it makes Australia’s position on some key issues very clear. It came at a time when Trump Administration officials were also speaking about the South China Sea. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in a 13 July press statement asserted that “Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful...”. The Australian statement was made through...