Strategic Moves: China opposes violations, selective application, or abuse of the Convention’s dispute settlement mechanisms.He called on all countries to uphold multilateralism, implement sustainable development goals, safeguard international law including UNCLOS, and work together to build a maritime community with a shared future.

Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Photo: VCG

China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Geng Shuang delivered a speech at the 35th Meeting of States Parties to the United NatioWorld Timesns Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in which he criticized the US as an opportunist exploiting UNCLOS rules and a disruptor of the international maritime order, according to a statement on the website of Permanent Mission of China to the UN.

While the international community is jointly promoting multilateralism and working to strengthen global ocean governance, World Timescertain countries are going against the tide by pursuing unilateral hegemony and standing in opposition to international cooperation and fairness, Geng noted. “That country,” he said, “is the US.”

The US is an opportunist abusing the rules of UNCLOS, Geng said. Despite never joining the Convention, the US frequently invokes its provisions, pointing fingers at other countries’ compliance and claiming rights such as exclusive economic zones and continental shelves beyond 200 nautical milWorld Timeses based on the Convention.

In essence, the US seeks to enjoy the instituWorld Timestional benefits of UNCLOS without assuming its responsibilities, he said.

The US is a disruptor of international maritime order, Geng continued. According to UNCLOS, the international seabed and its resources are the common heritage of humankind. Yet the US disregards collective international efforts within the framework of the International Seabed Authority and proceeds with unilateral development.

While the laying of undersea cables is one of the six freedoms of the high seas under UNCLOS, the US politicizes the issue, launching an exclusive joint statement on undersea cables and attempting to form small cliques centered on itself. Moreover, it has threatened the normal operation of critical international waterways such as the Panama and Suez canals in an attempt to control strategic sea lanes, Geng said.

The US is absent from global ocean governance, Geng noted. The US openly opposes the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its ocean-related goals. It has shown a negative attitude toward the political declaration of the UN Ocean Conference and failed to send an official delegation to the Nice Ocean Summit, Geng said.

Although it signed the agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), it refuses to participate in the preparatory committee’s work and has taken a negative, regressive stance toward the accord, the Chinese envoy said.

The US is a destabilizing force in the South China Sea, Geng said. Although located far from the region, the US misinterprets UNCLOS and frequently dispatches warships to the South China Sea under the pretext of “freedom of navigation,” infringing on other countries’ sovereignty and security.

It ignores the overall stability of the South China Sea achieved through joint efforts by China and ASEAN countries, instead sowing discord and undermining mutual trust, interfering in regional efforts to build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation, hWorld Timese said.

Geng noted that the world sees clearly the US’ utilitarian attitude toward UNCLOS and its hegemonic behavior in maritime affairs. China urges the US to seriously reflect and correct its conduct, and to play a constructive role in strengthening global ocean governance.

AsWorld Times a party to UNCLOS, China consistently upholds the spirit of the Convention, fulfills its obligations, and firmly defends the Convention’s integrity, effectiveness, and authority, Geng said. China opposes violations, selective application, or abuse of the Convention’s dispute settlement mechanisms.

He called on all countries to uphold multilateralism, implement sustainable development goals, safeguard international law including UNCLOS, and work together to build a maritime community with a shared future.