I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 772 

To promote peaceful and collaborative resolution of the South China Sea 

dispute. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2013 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Mr. CHABOT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To promote peaceful and collaborative resolution of the South 

China Sea dispute. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The South China Sea contains vital com6 mercial shipping lanes and points of access between 

7 the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, providing a 

8 maritime lifeline to India, Singapore, Malaysia, InVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:26 Feb 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H772.IH H772

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1 donesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, 

2 Japan, and the Korean peninsula. 

3 (2) China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, 

4 Malaysia, and Brunei have disputed territorial 

5 claims over the Spratly Islands, and China, Taiwan, 

6 and Vietnam have disputed territorial claims over 

7 the Paracel Islands. 

8 (3) In 2009, the Government of the People’s 

9 Republic of China submitted to the United Nations 

10 a map with the 9-dotted line (also known as the Cow 

11 Tongue line) which raised questions about whether 

12 China officially claims most of the 1,423,000 square 

13 miles of the South China Sea, more than any other 

14 nation involved in these territorial disputes. 

15 (4) In November 2012, China began to include 

16 a map of its territorial claims inside its passports, 

17 despite the protests of its neighbors, including Viet18 nam and the Philippines. 

19 (5) Although not a party to these disputes, the 

20 United States has a national economic and security 

21 interest in maintaining peace, stability, and pros22 perity in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and ensur23 ing that no party threatens or uses force or coercion 

24 unilaterally to assert maritime territorial claims in 

25 East Asia and Southeast Asia, including in the 


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1 South China Sea, the East China Sea, or the Yellow 

2 Sea. 

3 (6) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations 

4 (ASEAN) has promoted multilateral talks in dis5 puted areas without settling the issue of sovereignty. 

6 (7) In 2002, ASEAN and China signed a Dec7 laration on the Conduct of Parties in the South 

8 China Sea. 

9 (8) That declaration committed all parties to 

10 those territorial disputes to ‘‘reaffirm their respect 

11 for and commitment to the freedom of navigation in 

12 and over flight above the South China Sea as pro13 vided for by the universally recognized principles of 

14 international law’’, and to ‘‘resolve their territorial 

15 and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, with16 out resorting to the threat or use of force’’. 

17 (9) In July and November of 2010, the United 

18 States and our Republic of Korea allies conducted 

19 joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea in inter20 national waters, as well as Republic of Korea terri21 torial waters, in the vicinity of the site of the March 

22 2010 North Korean attack on the South Korean 

23 military vessel Cheonan, these exercises drew objec24 tions from Beijing over foreign operations in the 

25 Yellow Sea. 


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1 (10) In September 2010, tensions were raised 

2 in the East China Sea near the Senkaku (Diaoyutai) 

3 Islands, a territory under the legal administration of 

4 Japan, when a Chinese fishing vessel deliberately 

5 rammed Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats. 

6 (11) On February 25, 2011, a frigate from Chi7 na’s navy fired shots at 3 fishing boats from the 

8 Philippines. 

9 (12) On March 2, 2011, the Government of the 

10 Philippines reported that two patrol boats from 

11 China attempted to ram one of its surveillance ships. 

12 (13) On May 26, 2011, a maritime security ves13 sel from China cut the cables of an exploration ship 

14 from Vietnam, the Binh Minh, in the South China 

15 Sea in waters near Cam Ranh Bay in the exclusive 

16 economic zone of Vietnam. 

17 (14) On May 31, 2011, three Chinese military 

18 vessels used guns to threaten the crews of four Viet19 namese fishing boats while they were fishing in the 

20 waters of the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago. 

21 (15) On June 3, 2011, Vietnam’s Foreign Min22 istry released a statement that ‘‘Vietnam is reso23 lutely opposed to these acts by China that seriously 

24 violated the sovereign and jurisdiction rights of Viet 


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1 Nam to its continental shelf and Exclusive Economic 

2 Zone (EEZ)’’. 

3 (16) On June 9, 2011, three vessels from 

4 China, including one fishing vessel and two maritime 

5 security vessels, ran into and disabled the cables of 

6 another exploration ship from Vietnam, the Viking 

7 2, in the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam. 

8 (17) The actions of the Government of the Peo9 ple’s Republic of China in the South China Sea have 

10 also affected United States military and maritime 

11 vessels and aircraft transiting through international 

12 air space and waters, including the collision of a 

13 Chinese fighter plane with a United States surveil14 lance plane in 2001, the harassment of the USNS 

15 Victorious and the USNS Impeccable in March 

16 2009, and the collision of a Chinese submarine with 

17 the sonar cable of the USS John McCain in June 

18 2009. 

19 (18) On July 23, 2010, former Secretary of 

20 State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated at the ASEAN 

21 Regional Forum that the United States, like every 

22 nation, has a national interest in freedom of naviga23 tion, open access to Asia’s maritime commons, re24 spect for international law, and unimpeded com25 merce in the South China Sea. 


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1 (19) On June 23, 2011, the United States stat2 ed that it was ready to provide hardware to mod3 ernize the military of the Philippines. 

4 (20) The United States and the Philippines 

5 conducted combined naval exercises in the Sulu Sea, 

6 near the South China Sea, from June 28 to July 8, 

7 2011. 

8 (21) On July 22, 2011, an Indian naval vessel, 

9 sailing about 45 nautical miles off the coast of Viet10 nam, was warned by a Chinese naval vessel that it 

11 was allegedly violating Chinese territorial waters. 

12 (22) In June 2012, China’s cabinet, the State 

13 Council, approved the establishment of the city of 

14 Sansha to oversee the areas claimed by China in the 

15 South China Sea. 

16 (23) In July 2012, Chinese military authorities 

17 announced that they had established a corresponding 

18 Sansha garrison in the new prefecture. 

19 (24) On June 23, 2012, the China National 

20 Offshore Oil Corporation invited bids for oil explo21 ration in areas within 200 nautical miles of the con22 tinental shelf and within the exclusive economic zone 

23 of Vietnam. 


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1 (25) Since July 2012, Chinese patrol ships have 

2 been spotted near the disputed Senkaku (Diaoyutai) 

3 Islands in the East China Sea. 

4 (26) At the July 2012 ASEAN Regional 

5 Forum, former Secretary of State Clinton said, ‘‘We 

6 believe the nations of the region should work collabo7 ratively and diplomatically to resolve disputes with8 out coercion, without intimidation, without threats, 

9 and without the use of force’’. 

10 (27) In November 2012, a regulation was ap11 proved by the Hainan People’s Congress authorizing 

12 Chinese maritime police to ‘‘board, search’’ and even 

13 ‘‘take over’’ ships determined to be ‘‘illegally enter14 ing’’ South China Sea waters unilaterally claimed by 

15 Beijing. 

16 (28) At a meeting with the Japanese Foreign 

17 Minister on January 18, 2013, former Secretary of 

18 State Clinton stated that ‘‘although the United 

19 States does not take a position on the ultimate sov20 ereignty of the (Senkaku) islands, we acknowledge 

21 they are under the administration of Japan’’, adding 

22 that ‘‘We oppose any unilateral actions that would 

23 seek to undermine Japanese administration, and we 

24 urge all parties to take steps to prevent incidents 


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1 and manage disagreements through peaceful 

2 means’’. 

3 (29) On August 3, 2012, a Department of 

4 State spokesperson expressed concern over ‘‘China’s 

5 upgrading of the administrative level of Sansha City 

6 and the establishment of a new military garrison 

7 there’’, expressed encouragement for ASEAN and 

8 China ‘‘to make meaningful progress toward final9 izing a comprehensive Code of Conduct’’, and called 

10 upon claimants to ‘‘explore every diplomatic or other 

11 peaceful avenue for resolution, including the use of 

12 arbitration or other international legal mechanisms 

13 as needed’’. 

14 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

15 It is the sense of Congress that, in light of the con16 gressional finding described above, the Secretary of State 

17 should— 

18 (1) reaffirm the strong support of the United 

19 States for the peaceful resolution of maritime terri20 torial disputes in the South China Sea, the Taiwan 

21 Strait, the East China Sea, and the Yellow Sea and 

22 pledge continued efforts to facilitate a collaborative, 

23 peaceful process to resolve these disputes; 

24 (2) condemn the use of threats or force by 

25 naval, maritime security, and fishing vessels from 


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1 China in the South China Sea and the East China 

2 Sea as well as the use of force by North Korea in 

3 the Yellow Sea that would escalate tensions or result 

4 in miscalculations; 

5 (3) note that overt threats and gun boat diplo6 macy are not constructive means for settling these 

7 outstanding maritime disputes; 

8 (4) welcome the diplomatic efforts of Associa9 tion of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 

10 United States allies and partners in Japan, the Re11 public of Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and India 

12 to amiably and fairly resolve these outstanding dis13 putes; and 

14 (5) support the continuation of operations by 

15 the United States Armed Forces in support of free16 dom of navigation rights in international waters and 

17 air space in the South China Sea, the East China 

18 Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the Yellow Sea. 

19 SEC. 3. REPORT ON THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE 

20 SOUTH CHINA SEA. 

21 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

23 submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

24 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela25 tions of the Senate a report on the Code of Conduct and 


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1 other peaceful measures for resolution of the territorial 

2 disputes in the South China Sea. 

3 (b) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a) 

4 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

5 a classified annex if necessary. 

Æ 


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