美国国务院
发言人办公室
华盛顿哥伦比亚特区（Washington, D.C.）
2020年 7月 13日
国务卿迈克尔·蓬佩奥（MICHAEL R. POMPEO）发表声明
关于美国对中国在南中国海海事索求的立场
美国历来倡导印度-太平洋（Indo-Pacific）的自由和开放。今天，我们正在加强美国对该地区一个重要的、存在争议的地区——南中国海（South China Sea）的政策。我们明确表示：北京对南中国海大多数地区离岸资源的索求完全不合法，与其为控制这些资源采取的霸道行为如出一辙。
在南中国海，我们要求维护和平与稳定，坚持按照国际法实现海上自由，保障商业往来不受阻碍，反对任何采取胁迫或强制手段解决争端的意图。我们与我们众多的盟国和伙伴长期坚持有章可循的国际秩序，共同维护这些深远和永恒的利益。
这些共同利益已受到来自中华人民共和国前所未有的威胁。北京采取恐吓手段破坏东南亚地区南中国海沿岸国家的主权，逼迫他们放弃离岸资源，单方面声称拥有管辖权，以“强权即公理”的法则代替国际法。北京多年来采取的手段已昭然若揭。2010年，时任中华人民共和国外交部长的杨洁篪对东盟（ASEAN）有关官员说，“中国是大国，其他国家是小国。这只是一个事实。” 在21世纪，中华人民共和国掠夺性的世界观已毫无立足之地。
中华人民共和国没有任何合法的理由对该地区单方面强加自己的意志。北京自2009年正式宣布南中国海 “九段线”的主张以来，始终未提出任何明确的法律依据。2016年7月12日，根据1982年海洋法公约（Law of the Sea Convention）成立的仲裁法庭（Arbitral Tribunal）——中华人民共和国也是缔约国之一——一致裁决，中华人民共和国提出的海事索求没有任何国际法依据，应予以否决。冲裁法庭明确支持作为诉方的菲律宾提交的几乎所有的诉案。
美国曾发表声明，且如公约特定条款之规定，仲裁法庭的裁决属最终裁决，对当事双方均具有法律约束力。今天，对于中华人民共和国在南中国海的海事索求，美国采取与仲裁法庭的裁决一致的立场。具体如下：
全世界不允许北京将南中国海作为其海洋帝国。美国支持我们的东南亚盟国和伙伴保护各自对离岸资源拥有的主权，尊重他们根据国际法拥有的权利和义务。我们支持国际社会捍卫海上自由和尊重主权，拒不接受在南中国海或更广泛的地区推行“强权即公理”的任何行为。

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesperson
For Immediate Release
July 13, 2020
 STATEMENT BY SECRETARY MICHAEL R. POMPEO
U.S. Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea
The United States champions a free and open Indo-Pacific. Today we are strengthening U.S. policy in a vital, contentious part of that region — the South China Sea. We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them.
In the South China Sea, we seek to preserve peace and stability, uphold freedom of the seas in a manner consistent with international law, maintain the unimpeded flow of commerce, and oppose any attempt to use coercion or force to settle disputes. We share these deep and abiding interests with our many allies and partners who have long endorsed a rules-based international order.
These shared interests have come under unprecedented threat from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the South China Sea, bully them out of offshore resources, assert unilateral dominion, and replace international law with “might makes right.” Beijing’s approach has been clear for years. In 2010, then-PRC Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told his ASEAN counterparts that “China is a big country and other countries are small countries and that is just a fact.” The PRC’s predatory world view has no place in the 21st century.
The PRC has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region. Beijing has offered no coherent legal basis for its “Nine-Dashed Line” claim in the South China Sea since formally announcing it in 2009. In a unanimous decision on July 12, 2016, an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention – to which the PRC is a state party – rejected the PRC’s maritime claims as having no basis in international law. The Tribunal sided squarely with the Philippines, which brought the arbitration case, on almost all claims.
As the United States has previously stated, and as specifically provided in the Convention, the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision is final and legally binding on both parties. Today we are aligning the U.S. position on the PRC’s maritime claims in the SCS with the Tribunal’s decision. Specifically:
The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire. America stands with our Southeast Asian allies and partners in protecting their sovereign rights to offshore resources, consistent with their rights and obligations under international law. We stand with the international community in defense of freedom of the seas and respect for sovereignty and reject any push to impose “might makes right” in the South China Sea or the wider region.