By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Will
JAKARTA, Indonesia: The United States (US) has reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding freedom of navigation, underscoring its importance to regional and global security and to ensuring uninterrupted global trade.
US Ambassador to ASEAN, Kevin Kim, said the US, as a maritime power, fundamentally believed freedom of navigation was essential, and would continue working with all countries to ensure international waterways remain open.
He said the same principle applied to the South China Sea, where the vast majority of the global economy relied on free access to support global and regional economic growth.
“As Secretary (Secretary of State) stated, the issue isn’t simply about what’s happening in the Strait of Hormuz. Once the fundamental principle is threatened, the global economy becomes threatened and the rules which have underpinned 150 years of international trade and commerce are also threatened.
“We cannot allow that to happen,” he said during a virtual press briefing on the outcomes of US participation in the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings in Manila, the Philippines.
US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, represented Washington at the meeting on Wednesday.
On the South China Sea, Kim said Washington respected ASEAN’s consensus-based approach and ongoing negotiations with China on a Code of Conduct (COC).
He said that any agreement should be consistent with international law and should not prejudice the rights or interests of third parties.
The US, he added, would continue operating in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). – BERNAMA
