* Pompeo accuses China of "campaign of bullying"
* Beijing says U.S. is the regional troublemaker
* China urges Philippines to "look forward, not backwards"
(Adds North Korea comment in paragraph 20)
By Humeyra Pamuk, Arshad Mohammed and Yew Lun Tian
WASHINGTON/BEIJING, July 14 (Reuters) - The United States on
Monday rejected China's claims to offshore resources in most of
the South China Sea, drawing criticism from China which said the
U.S. position raised tension in the region, highlighting an
increasingly testy relationship.
China has offered no coherent legal basis for its ambitions
in the South China Sea and for years has been using intimidation
against other Southeast Asian coastal states, U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
"We are making clear: Beijing's claims to offshore resources
across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as
is its campaign of bullying to control them," said Pompeo, a
prominent China hawk within the Trump administration.
The United States has long opposed China's expansive
territorial claims on the South China Sea, sending warships
regularly through the strategic waterway to demonstrate freedom
of navigation there. Monday's comments reflect a harsher tone.
"The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China
Sea as its maritime empire," Pompeo said.
The U.S. statement supports a ruling four years ago under
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that
invalidated most of China's claims to maritime rights in the
South China Sea.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian condemned the
U.S. rejection of China's claim.
"It intentionally stirs up controversy over maritime
sovereignty claims, destroys regional peace and stability and is
an irresponsible act," he said at a regular briefing.
"The U.S. has repeatedly sent large fleets of sophisticated
military planes and ships to the South China Sea ... The U.S. is
the troublemaker and destroyer of regional peace and stability."
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, in a video call with his
Filipino counterpart, condemned the United States for sowing
discord between China and ASEAN countries, and urged the
Philippines to "look forward, not backwards."
The 2016 ruling that the U.S. statement referred to came
about as a result of the Philippines challenging China's claims
in an arbitration court.
China claims 90% of the potentially energy-rich South China
Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam
also lay claim to parts of it.
About $3 trillion worth of trade passes through the waterway
each year. China has built bases atop atolls in the region but
says its intentions are peaceful.
MORE CONFIDENT?
Analysts said it would be important to see if other nations
adopted the U.S. stance and what, if anything, Washington might
do to reinforce its position and prevent Beijing from creating
"facts on the water" to buttress its claims.
"The Southeast Asian claimants, especially Vietnam, will
feel more confident in asserting their jurisdictional rights
under UNCLOS," said Ian Storey, senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof
Ishak Institute in Singapore.
The Philippines strongly supported a rules-based order in
the South China Sea and urged China to comply with the
four-year-old arbitration ruling, its defense minister, Delfin
Lorenzana, said.
Taiwan welcomed the U.S. statement.
"Our country opposes any attempt by a claimant state to use
intimidation, coercion, or force to resolve disputes," Taiwan
foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told reporters.
North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency quoted a foreign
ministry official describing Pompeo's comments as "reckless".
The relationship between the United States and China has
grown increasingly tense recently over various issues including
China's handling of the novel coronavirus and its tightened grip
on Hong Kong.
China routinely outlines the scope of its claims in the
South China Sea with reference to a so-called nine-dash line on
its maps that encompasses about nine-tenths of the
3.5-million-square-kilometer waters.
"This is basically the first time we have called it
illegitimate," Chris Johnson, an analyst with the Center for
Strategic and International Studies, said of Pompeo's statement.
"It's fine to put out a statement, but what you going to do
about it?"