[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
REAFFIRMING THE PEACEFUL AND COLLABORATIVE RESOLUTION OF MARITIME AND
JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND THE EAST CHINA SEA
AS PROVIDED FOR BY UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL
LAW, AND REAFFIRMING THE STRONG SUPPORT OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
FOR FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION AND OTHER INTERNATIONALLY LAWFUL USES OF SEA
AND AIRSPACE IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
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MARKUP
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
H. Res. 714
__________
SEPTEMBER 17, 2014
__________
Serial No. 113-204
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
or
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
______
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III,
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania Massachusetts
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
TREY RADEL, Florida--resigned 1/27/ GRACE MENG, New York
14 deg. LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
TED S. YOHO, Florida
LUKE MESSER, Indiana--resigned 5/
20/14 noon deg.
SEAN DUFFY, Wisconsin
added 5/29/14 noon
CURT CLAWSON, Florida
added 7/9/14 noon
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman
DANA ROHRABACHER, California ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
MATT SALMON, Arizona Samoa
MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania BRAD SHERMAN, California
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
LUKE MESSER, Indiana--5/20/14 WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
noon
CURT CLAWSON, Florida
added 7/9/14 noon
C O N T E N T S
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Page
MARKUP OF
H. Res. 714, Reaffirming the peaceful and collaborative
resolution of maritime and jurisdictional disputes in the South
China Sea and the East China Sea as provided for by universally
recognized principles of international law, and reaffirming the
strong support of the United States Government for freedom of
navigation and other internationally lawful uses of sea and
airspace in the Asia-Pacific region............................ 3
APPENDIX
Markup notice.................................................... 14
Markup minutes................................................... 15
Markup summary................................................... 16
The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, a Representative in Congress
from the Commonwealth of Virginia: Prepared statement.......... 17
REAFFIRMING THE PEACEFUL AND COLLABORATIVE RESOLUTION OF MARITIME AND
JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND THE EAST CHINA SEA
AS PROVIDED FOR BY UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL
LAW, AND REAFFIRMING THE STRONG SUPPORT OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
FOR FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION AND OTHER INTERNATIONALLY LAWFUL USES OF SEA
AND AIRSPACE IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
----------
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o'clock p.m.,
in room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steve Chabot
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Chabot. The committee will come to order. Pursuant to
notice, I call up H. Res. 714, a resolution reaffirming the
peaceful and collaborative resolution of maritime and
jurisdictional disputes in the South China Sea and the East
China Sea for purposes of markup and move its recommendation to
the full committee. Without objection, the resolution is
considered as read and open to amendment at any point. I will
now recognize myself for the purpose of speaking on the
resolution.
Tensions in the South China and East China Seas have grown
significantly over the last year. Beijing placed an oil rig in
territorial waters claimed by Vietnam; China unilaterally
established an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the
East China Sea; and the Philippines filed an arbitration case
against China's assertions over waters within the Philippines'
exclusive economic zone. We have witnessed a dangerously
aggressive China trying to assert greater control over these
territories to change the regional status quo in a way that
violates core principles of international law; and we have seen
our friends and allies in the region respond in defense by
doubling their military spending and building their navies.
A dangerous pattern is emerging, but a strategy to
effectively manage the growth of these territorial and
jurisdictional tensions is, at least at this time, not yet
clear.
H. Res. 714, introduced by my good friend, the ranking
member, Mr. Faleomavaega from American Samoa, reaffirms U.S.
commitment to the peaceful resolutions of territorial disputes
in the South China and East China Seas. It recognizes the need
to uphold international law as a way to safeguard the rights
and freedoms of all nations in the Asia-Pacific region and
further emphasizes the need for China to act as a responsible
international stakeholder that respects international law,
standards, and institutions.
I am a co-sponsor of this resolution because the U.S. must
support its friends and allies in the region against China's
increasingly hostile behavior. We must help facilitate a
collaborative process to resolve these disputes. There is no
other issue in the Asia-Pacific region more worrisome than the
rising tensions we are seeing as a result of China's efforts to
coercively change and destabilize the regional status quo.
As we will discuss in the hearing following today's
markup--which will begin very shortly after the markup
concludes--relations with China deserve more attention because
the list of conflicts and challenges is growing in the range of
security, political, and economic matters as is the risk of
miscalculation by our two nations--China and the United States.
I support this resolution and I would like to yield to the
principal sponsor of the legislation, Mr. Faleomavaega, for the
purpose of making an opening statement.
[The information referred to follows:]
Mr. Faleomavaega. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this
markup on House Resolution 714. I thank you for your
friendship, as well as your support of this bipartisan
resolution. Again, I commend you for your leadership and taking
care in following up on this proposal.
I also want to thank our ranking member, our former
chairman, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, Congressman Bera, and
Congressman Bordallo for co-sponsoring this important
legislation. Also Resolution 714 will provide peaceful and
corroborative resolution of maritime and jurisdictional
disputes in South China and East China Seas as provided for by
universally-recognized principles of international law and
reaffirms the strong support of the United States Government
for affirmative navigation and other international lawful uses
of sea and air spaces in the Asia Pacific region.
Mr. Chairman, this resolution is similar to Senate
Resolution 4102 which was passed in July of this year in
response to China's aggressive acts which threaten the security
structure of the region. In May of this year, China anchored
its HD-981 oil rig within the exclusive economic zone of
Vietnam and deployed over 80 missiles including 7 military
vessels to support its attempt to change the status quo by
force.
Since 2009, China has escalated tensions in the South China
and East China Sea. China has increased oil explorations in
disputed areas, implemented measures which attempt to change
crucial regulations, cut the cables of a Vietnamese exploration
ship, used guns to threaten Vietnamese fishing boats, warned an
Indian naval vessel, rammed Japanese patrol boats, fired shots
at a Filipino fishing boat, caned a Taiwanese fisherman,
conducted military exercises in the South China Sea to flex its
power. Added to other claimants, declared an air defense
identification zone or ADIZ over the East China Sea and this is
just the tip of the iceberg, Mr. Chairman.
The Governments of Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Australia
and Indonesia have expressed deep concern about China's
declaration of an ADIZ over the East China Sea. Such a zone
violates international norms and accepted practices. With the
successful passage of Senate Resolution 412, the Senate has
made it very clear that the United States will not allow
China's announcement of an ADIZ to alter how the United States
Government conducts operations in the region.
Freedom of navigation and other lawful uses of sea and air
spaces in the Asia Pacific region are embodied in international
laws and not created by China or any other state to others.
China must respect international laws governing sea and air.
Left unchecked, Mr. Chairman, I believe China will continue to
assert its way through the region and such provocative actions
on the part of China will not bode well for the region, nor for
the United States, especially since these are not only local or
regional issues, but serious international issues that impact
the safety in commerce of our global community.
I commend the Government of Vietnam for its peaceful, but
courteous stand which led to China's withdrawal of Chinese
vessel HD-981 oil rig and I also appreciate the Governments of
Taiwan and Japan for peacefully reaching agreement to jointly
share fishing resources in their overlapping EEZ zones through
the East China Sea Initiative. Resolutions can be achieved
through peaceful means and so I sincerely hope that China and
the association of Southeast Asia nations will develop an
effective code of conduct and I ask respectfully my colleagues
to support this resolution.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chabot. Thank you very much, Mr. Faleomavaega and we
thank you for your leadership on this issue. As I indicated I
support the measure and would urge its passage.
Are there any other members who seek recognition? If not,
are there any amendments? If not, the question occurs on the
motion to report the resolution favorably.
All in favor say aye.
Any opposed say nay.
It appears that the ayes have it. And in the opinion of the
Chair, the ayes have it and the motion is approved and the
resolution is reported favorably. Without objection, the
resolution will be reported favorably to the full committee.
And that takes care----
Mr. Faleomavaega. Will the chairman yield?
Mr. Chabot. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I realize that members of our committee,
other members of our committee are not here, but this is not to
give the impression that this has not been through the approval
process of our committee. There are other members who do
support it, but they are not here physically. And I just want
to make sure that for the record that the public will
understand the situation.
Mr. Chabot. Yes, I agree with the gentleman's statement and
there are alot of markups going on. I am supposed to be in
another markup which is going on right now in another committee
and I am sure they are happening all over the place. It is
probably the last week before the election which is about a
month off and there is a lot of business that is trying to be
wrapped up in this week.
Mr. Faleomavaega. It is the nature of the beast.
Mr. Chabot. It is the nature of the beast. That is for
sure. So at this time, the committee will stand adjourned only
until we have an opportunity to switch over the necessary
places at the desk and as soon as our witnesses arrive, we will
get started on the hearing. So we are adjourned for a short
period of time.
[Whereupon, at 2:15 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Material Submitted for the Record