VietNamNet Bridge – The US Senate has approved Senate Resolution 167, which calls for a peaceful settlement of disputes in the East Sea and East China Sea with overwhelming majority.

Senator Robert Menendez. (Source: theridgewoodblog.net)

The document was sponsored by Senator Robert Menendez with Senators Bob Corker, Marco Antonio Rubio and Ben Cardin, under the Asia-Pacific Sub-committee, being the co-authors.

The resolution urges countries contesting ownership of parts of the two sea areas to create and approve a code of conduct to avoid conflicts.

The resolution is asking the US Senate to condemn the use of coercion, threats, or force by naval, maritime security, or fishing vessels and military or civilian aircraft in the East Sea and the East China Sea to assert maritime or territorial claims or alter the status quo.

Senator Menendez said in a statement that the US will intervene in disputes in the sea areas via diplomatic channel because “with a long history of engagement in the region, the US has a vital interest in working with all nations in developing, institutionalising, and sustaining a rules-based order for the area. That starts with putting in place effective mechanisms to manage maritime disputes that destabilize the region, and supporting and encouraging the peaceful resolution of disputes in the Asia-Pacific maritime domain.”

On his website, Menendez wrote, “The territorial disputes at play in the Asia-Pacific region today are not about the past, but very much about the future of a region poised to serve as an epicenter for global economic development for the 21st century.”

Source: Vietnam Plus