•HRES 704 IH 
craft and state aircraft and provides for the specific obli-
gations of state parties, consistent with customary law, to 
‘‘refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against 
civil aircraft in flight and . . . in case of interception, the 
lives of persons on board and the safety of aircraft must 
not be endangered’’; 
Whereas international civil aviation is regulated by inter-
national agreements, including standards and regulations 
set by ICAO for aviation safety, security, efficiency and 
regularity, as well as for aviation environmental protec-
tion; 
Whereas, in accordance with the norm of airborne innocent 
passage, the United States does not recognize the right 
of a coastal nation to apply its ADIZ procedures to for-
eign state aircraft not intending to enter national air-
space nor does the United States apply its ADIZ proce-
dures to foreign state aircraft not intending to enter 
United States airspace; 
Whereas the United States Government expressed profound 
concerns with China’s unilateral, provocative, dangerous, 
and destabilizing declaration of such a zone, including 
the potential for misunderstandings and miscalculations 
by aircraft operating lawfully in international airspace; 
Whereas the People’s Republic of China’s declaration of an 
ADIZ in the East China Sea will not alter how the 
United States Government conducts operations in the re-
gion or the unwavering United States commitment to 
peace, security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region; 
Whereas the Government of Japan expressed deep concern 
about the People’s Republic of China’s declaration of 
such a zone, regarding it as an effort to unduly infringe 
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•HRES 704 IH 
upon the freedom of flight in international airspace and 
to change the status quo that could escalate tensions and 
potentially cause unintentional consequences in the East 
China Sea; 
Whereas the Government of the Republic of Korea has ex-
pressed concern over China’s declared ADIZ, and on De-
cember 9, 2013, announced an adjustment to its long-
standing Air Defense Identification Zone, which does not 
encompass territory administered by another country, 
and did so only after undertaking a deliberate process of 
consultations with the United States, Japan, and China; 
Whereas the Government of the Philippines has stressed that 
China’s declared ADIZ seeks to transfer an entire air 
zone into Chinese domestic airspace, infringes on freedom 
of flight in international airspace, and compromises the 
safety of civil aviation and the national security of af-
fected states, and has called on China to ensure that its 
actions do not jeopardize regional security and stability; 
Whereas, on November 26, 2013, the Government of Aus-
tralia made clear in a statement its opposition to any co-
ercive or unilateral actions to change the status quo in 
the East China Sea; 
Whereas, on March 10, 2014, the United States Government 
and the Government of Japan jointly submitted a letter 
to the ICAO Secretariat regarding the issue of freedom 
of overflight by civil aircraft in international airspace and 
the effective management of civil air traffic within allo-
cated Flight Information Regions (FIR); 
Whereas Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, in a 
hearing before the Committee on Defense and Foreign 
Affairs on February 18, 2014, stated, ‘‘We have firmly 
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•HRES 704 IH 
told China we will not accept a similar [Air Defense 
Identification] Zone if it is adopted in the South China 
Sea. And the signal we have received thus far is, China 
does not plan to adopt a similar Zone in the South China 
Sea.’’; 
Whereas over half the world’s merchant tonnage flows 
through the South China Sea, and over 15,000,000 bar-
rels of oil per day transit the Strait of Malacca, fueling 
economic growth and prosperity throughout the Asia-Pa-
cific region; 
Whereas the increasing frequency and assertiveness of patrols 
and competing regulations over disputed territory and 
maritime areas and airspace in the South China Sea and 
the East China Sea are raising tensions and increasing 
the risk of confrontation; 
Whereas the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
(ASEAN) has promoted multilateral talks on disputed 
areas without settling the issue of sovereignty, and in 
2002 joined with China in signing a Declaration on the 
Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea that com-
mitted all parties to those territorial disputes to ‘‘reaf-
firm their respect for and commitment to the freedom of 
navigation in and over flight above the South China Sea 
as provided for by the universally recognized principles of 
international law’’ and to ‘‘resolve their territorial and ju-
risdictional disputes by peaceful means, without resorting 
to the threat or use of force’’; 
Whereas ASEAN and China committed in 2002 to develop an 
effective Code of Conduct when they adopted the Dec-
laration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China 
Sea, yet negotiations are irregular and little progress has 
been made; 
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•HRES 704 IH 
Whereas, in recent years, there have been numerous dan-
gerous and destabilizing incidents in waters near the 
coasts of the Philippines, China, Malaysia, and Vietnam; 
Whereas the United States Government is deeply concerned 
about unilateral actions by any claimant seeking to 
change the status quo through the use of coercion, in-
timidation, or military force, including the continued re-
strictions on access to Scarborough Reef and pressure on 
long-standing Philippine presence at the Second Thomas 
Shoal by the People’s Republic of China; actions by any 
state to prevent any other state from exercising its sov-
ereign rights to the resources of the exclusive economic 
zone (EEZ) and continental shelf by making claims to 
those areas that have no support in international law; 
declarations of administrative and military districts in 
contested areas in the South China Sea; and the imposi-
tion of new fishing regulations covering disputed areas, 
which have raised tensions in the region; 
Whereas international law is important to safeguard the 
rights and freedoms of all states in the Asia-Pacific re-
gion, and the lack of clarity in accordance with inter-
national law by claimants with regard to their South 
China Sea claims can create uncertainty, insecurity, and 
instability; 
Whereas the United States Government opposes the use of 
intimidation, coercion, or force to assert a territorial 
claim in the South China Sea; 
Whereas claims in the South China Sea must accord with 
international law, and those that are not derived from 
land features are fundamentally flawed; 
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•HRES 704 IH 
Whereas ASEAN issued Six-Point Principles on the South 
China Sea on July 20, 2012, whereby ASEAN’s Foreign 
Ministers reiterated and reaffirmed ‘‘the commitment of 
ASEAN Member States to: . . . 1. the full implementa-
tion of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the 
South China Sea (2002); . . . 2. the Guidelines for the 
Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of 
Parties in the South China Sea (2011); . . . 3. the early 
conclusion of a Regional Code of Conduct in the South 
China Sea; . . . 4. the full respect of the universally rec-
ognized principles of International Law, including the 
1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 
(UNCLOS); . . . 5. the continued exercise of self-re-
straint and non-use of force by all parties; and . . . 6. 
the peaceful resolution of disputes, in accordance with 
universally recognized principles of International Law, in-
cluding the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law 
of the Sea (UNCLOS).’’; 
Whereas, in 2013, the Republic of the Philippines properly 
exercised its rights to peaceful settlement mechanisms 
with the filing of arbitration case under Article 287 and 
Annex VII of the Convention on the Law of the Sea in 
order to achieve a peaceful and durable solution to the 
dispute, and the United States hopes that all parties in 
any dispute ultimately abide by the rulings of inter-
nationally recognized dispute-settlement bodies; 
Whereas China and Japan are the world’s second and third 
largest economies, and have a shared interest in pre-
serving stable maritime domains to continue to support 
economic growth; 
Whereas there has been an unprecedented increase in dan-
gerous activities by Chinese maritime agencies in areas 
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