IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 352 
Calling for a peaceful and collaborative resolution of maritime territorial 
disputes in the South China Sea and its environs and other maritime 
areas adjacent to the East Asian mainland. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 15, 2011 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. 
ROYCE, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, 
Mr. CHABOT, Mr. RIVERA, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. POE of 
Texas, Mr. CRAVAACK, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. 
COBLE, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. FORBES, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 
SABLAN, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. 
HANABUSA, Mr. BACA, and Mr. KELLY) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad-
dition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Calling for a peaceful and collaborative resolution of mari-
time territorial disputes in the South China Sea and 
its environs and other maritime areas adjacent to the 
East Asian mainland. 
Whereas the South China Sea contains vital commercial ship-
ping lanes and points of access between the Indian Ocean 
and Pacific Ocean and provides a maritime lifeline to 
Taiwan, Japan, and the Korean peninsula; 
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Whereas China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, 
and Brunei have disputed territorial claims over the 
Spratly Islands, and China, Taiwan, and Vietnam have 
disputed territorial claims over the Paracel Islands; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
claims most of the 648,000 square miles of the South 
China Sea, more than any other nation involved in those 
territorial disputes; 
Whereas although not a party to these disputes, the United 
States has a national economic and security interest in 
ensuring that no party uses force unilaterally to assert 
maritime territorial claims in East Asia, including in the 
South China Sea, the East China Sea, or the Yellow Sea; 
Whereas, on May 26, 2011, a maritime security vessel from 
China cut the cables of an exploration ship from Viet-
nam, the Binh Minh, in the South China Sea in waters 
near Cam Ranh Bay; 
Whereas, on May 31, 2011, three Chinese military vessels 
used guns to threaten the crews of four Vietnamese fish-
ing boats while they were fishing in the waters of the 
Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago; 
Whereas, on June 3, 2011, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry re-
leased a statement that ‘‘Vietnam is resolutely opposed to 
these acts by China that seriously violated the sovereign 
and jurisdiction rights of Viet Nam to its continental 
shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), running 
counter to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the 
Law of the Sea, and going against the spirit and wording 
of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East 
Sea (South China Sea) signed between ASEAN and 
China in 2002’’; 
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Whereas, on June 9, 2011, three vessels from China, includ-
ing one fishing vessel and two maritime security vessels, 
ran into and disabled the cables of another exploration 
ship from Vietnam, the Viking 2; 
Whereas, on June 13–14, 2011, the Government of Vietnam 
held a live-fire military exercise on the uninhabited island 
of Hon Ong, 25 miles off the coast of Vietnam in the 
South China Sea; 
Whereas, on June 25, 2011, Chinese Peoples’ Liberation 
Army Major General (Ret.) Peng Guangqian stated in a 
television interview that ‘‘China once taught Vietnam a 
lesson. If Vietnam is not sincere, it will receive a bigger 
lesson’’, adding that ‘‘If Vietnam continues to act tough, 
play with the knife, sooner or later it will get cut’’; 
Whereas, on June 26, 2011, the Chinese news agency Xinhua 
announced that China and Vietnam had agreed to hold 
talks on how to resolve conflicts arising from a sov-
ereignty dispute over the South China Sea after a June 
25 meeting in Beijing between Dai Bingguo, the senior 
Chinese official in charge of foreign affairs, and Viet-
namese Vice Foreign Minister and Special Envoy Ho 
Xuan Son; 
Whereas, on February 25, 2011, a frigate from China’s navy 
fired shots at 3 fishing boats from the Philippines; 
Whereas, on March 2, 2011, the Government of the Phil-
ippines reported that two patrol boats from China at-
tempted to ram one of its surveillance ships; 
Whereas it was reported, on June 17, 2011, that the Phil-
ippines removed a string of wooden markers that Manila 
determined was placed by China in disputed areas of the 
South China Sea amid growing regional tensions; 
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Whereas, on June 23, 2011, Secretary of State Hillary 
Rodham Clinton told visiting Philippines Foreign Sec-
retary Albert del Rosario that ‘‘We are determined and 
committed to supporting the defense of the Philippines’’; 
Whereas Philippines Foreign Secretary del Rosario stated 
that the Philippines is a small country, but is ‘‘prepared 
to do what is necessary to stand up to any aggressive ac-
tion in our backyard’’; 
Whereas the United States, on June 23, 2011, stated that it 
was ready to provide hardware to modernize the military 
of the Philippines; 
Whereas the United States and the Philippines conducted 
combined naval exercises in the Sulu Sea, near the South 
China Sea, from June 28 to July 8, 2011; 
Whereas the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
(ASEAN) has promoted multilateral talks and the estab-
lishment of Joint Development Authorities in disputed 
areas to jointly develop the areas, without settling the 
issue of sovereignty; 
Whereas in 2002, ASEAN and China signed a Declaration on 
the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea; 
Whereas that declaration committed all parties to those terri-
torial disputes to ‘‘reaffirm their respect for and commit-
ment to the freedom of navigation in and overflight above 
the South China Sea as provided for by the universally 
recognized principles of international law’’, and to ‘‘re-
solve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peace-
ful means, without resorting to the threat or use of 
force’’; 
Whereas a spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs pointed out, on June 20, 2011, that ‘‘as a major 
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trading nation, Singapore has a critical interest in any-
thing affecting freedom of navigation in all international 
sea lanes, including those in the South China Sea.’’; 
Whereas Singapore further urged China to clarify its claims 
in the South China Sea with more precision as the cur-
rent ambiguity as to their extent has caused serious con-
cerns in the international maritime community; 
Whereas, on June 17, 2011, China dispatched one of its larg-
est patrol ships, the Haixun 31, on a voyage through dis-
puted areas of the South China Sea in a deliberate show 
of force en route to a port of call in Singapore; 
Whereas China’s official media stated that the sailing route 
of the Haixun 31 in the South China Sea was determined 
to protect its ‘‘rights and sovereignty’’; 
Whereas in September 2010, tensions were raised in the East 
China Sea off of the Senkaku (Diaoyutai) Islands, a ter-
ritory under the legal administration of Japan, when a 
Chinese fishing vessel deliberately rammed Japanese 
Coast Guard patrol boats; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
deliberately heightened these tensions by making a series 
of diplomatic protests, including on one occasion sum-
moning the Japanese Ambassador after midnight, by 
threatening ‘‘further repercussions’’ if Japan did not im-
mediately release the Chinese ship captain involved in the 
collisions, and by encouraging anti-Japanese demonstra-
tions in Chinese cities; 
Whereas at a press roundtable in Beijing, China, held on 
January 15, 2008, former Commander of the Pacific 
Command, Admiral Timothy Keating, stated that ‘‘We 
(the United States) don’t need China’s permission to go 
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through the Taiwan Strait. It’s international water. We 
will exercise our free right of passage whenever and wher-
ever we choose as we have done repeatedly in the past 
and we’ll do in the future.’’; 
Whereas in July 2010, People’s Daily, the official newspaper 
of the Chinese Communist Party, reported that General 
Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff of the Peo-
ple’s Liberation Army, said that China ‘‘strongly op-
posed’’ combined naval exercises to be conducted in the 
West (Yellow) Sea by the United States and the Republic 
of Korea; 
Whereas these exercises were to be conducted in international 
waters, as well as Republic of Korea territorial waters, in 
the vicinity of the site of the March 2010 North Korean 
torpedo attack on the South Korean military vessel 
Cheonan, which resulted in 46 deaths; 
Whereas these exercises were to include participation by the 
USS George Washington aircraft carrier group; 
Whereas in July 2010, Chinese Major General Luo Yuan, a 
researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, 
in an interview with a Hong Kong TV station, stressed 
the importance of the Yellow Sea as ‘‘a gateway to Chi-
na’s capital region’’ and said that ‘‘if a U.S. aircraft car-
rier enters the Yellow Sea, it will become a living tar-
get.’’; 
Whereas the actions of the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China in the South China Sea have also affected 
United States military and maritime vessels transiting 
through international air space and waters, including the 
collision of a fighter plane of China with a United States 
surveillance plane in 2001, the harassment of the USNS 
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Impeccable in March 2009, and the collision of a Chinese 
submarine with the sonar cable of the USS John McCain 
in June 2009; 
Whereas, on July 23, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary 
Rodham Clinton stated at the Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations Regional Forum that ‘‘the United States, 
like every nation, has a national interest in freedom of 
navigation, open access to Asia’s maritime commons, and 
respect for international law in the South China Sea’’; 
Whereas Secretary Clinton further expressed the support of 
the United States for the Declaration by the Association 
of Southeast Asian Nations and China in 2002 on the 
Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and stated, 
‘‘The United States supports a collaborative diplomatic 
process by all claimants for resolving the various terri-
torial disputes without coercion.’’; 
Whereas, on October 12, 2010, former Secretary of Defense 
Robert Gates stated at the ASEAN Defense Ministers 
Meeting-Plus, ‘‘The U.S. position on maritime security 
remains clear: we have a national interest in freedom of 
navigation; in unimpeded economic development and com-
merce; and in respect for international law.’’; 
Whereas former Secretary Gates further maintained ‘‘The 
United States has always exercised our rights and sup-
ported the rights of others to transit through, and oper-
ate in, international waters.’’; 
Whereas, on June 4, 2011, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 
Singapore, former Secretary Gates stated that ‘‘maritime 
security remains an issue of particular importance for the 
region, with questions about territorial claims and the ap-
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propriate use of the maritime domain presenting on-going 
challenges to regional stability and prosperity’’; 
Whereas, on June 5, 2011, at the Shangri-La Dialogue, 
Liang Guanglie, the Defense Minister from China, said, 
‘‘China is committed to maintaining peace and stability 
in the South China Sea’’; 
Whereas, on June 14, 2011, Hong Lei, the spokesman for 
the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated that ‘‘China always 
upholds and has been committed to a proper resolution 
of differences and disputes over the South China Sea in 
a peaceful manner through bilateral direct negotiation 
and friendly consultation with relevant countries.’’; 
Whereas, on June 22, 2011, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister 
Cui Tiankai told reporters, in reference to the South 
China Sea disputes, that ‘‘I believe the individual coun-
tries are actually playing with fire, and I hope the fire 
will not be drawn to the United States.’’; and 
Whereas, on June 29, 2011, the Defense Ministry of the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China stated that ‘‘Recent drills by the 
Chinese navy are routine and not connected to the situa-
tion in the South China Sea’’, further calling for people 
to view the exercises in a ‘‘rational’’ way: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms the strong support of the United 
States for the peaceful resolution of maritime terri-
torial disputes in the South China Sea, the East 
China Sea, and the Yellow Sea and pledges contin-
ued efforts to facilitate a collaborative, peaceful 
process to resolve these disputes; 
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(2) condemns the use of force by naval, mari-
time security, and fishing vessels from China in the 
South China Sea and the East China Sea as well as 
the use of force by China’s North Korean ally in the 
Yellow Sea; 
(3) notes that overt threats and gun boat diplo-
macy are not constructive means for settling these 
outstanding maritime disputes; 
(4) calls on all parties to these territorial dis-
putes to refrain from threatening force or using 
force to assert territorial claims; 
(5) welcomes the diplomatic efforts of Associa-
tion of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 
United States allies and partners in Taiwan, Japan, 
and the Republic of Korea to amiably and fairly re-
solve these outstanding disputes; and 
(6) supports the continuation of operations by 
the United States Armed Forces in support of free-
dom of navigation rights in international waters and 
air space in the South China Sea, the East China 
Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the Yellow Sea. 
Æ 
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