By Nina Hachigian

April 8, 2015

"When I became the U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, I knew the South China Sea would feature in my new role: Out of the six competing territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea, four are from ASEAN member states - Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The United States doesn't have a claim itself and doesn't take sides on these claims, but as a major maritime power, the United States does have a national interest in seeing these claims resolved peacefully and in accordance with long-established principles of international law.

What I have found, though, in my first months here, is that there is another very serious threat related to the South China Sea: the destruction of the marine environment. The recent release of a new White House action plan on illegal, underreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing underscores the U.S. interest in addressing this challenge before it's too late."

Read more:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/the-other-problem-in-the-south-china-sea/

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