09.18.15

ICYMI: Sullivan Highlights Obama Administration’s Contradictory Policies in South China Sea

WASHINGTON, DC – During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) continued to highlight the Obama administration’s conflicting and confused policies in the South China Sea, where China has been feverishly building islands by piling sand onto reefs in disputed territory. According to Ambassador David Shear, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, “China has now reclaimed more than 2,900 acres, amounting to 17 times more land in 20 months than the other claimants combined over the past 40 years.”  This area represents nearly 2,200 football fields worth of land that was once below the ocean.

During his questioning, Senator Sullivan pointed to the mixed messaging from the PACOM Commander Harry Harris and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on whether or not our actions reflect our rhetoric on the official recognition of these islands. Secretary Carter recently stated on separate occasions that “the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows,” and “turning an underwater rock into an airfield simply does not afford the rights of sovereignty or permit restrictions on international air or maritime transit.” However, by not conducting operations near the formations, it appears that the United States is de-facto recognizing China’s claims.

“Admiral Harris, should we sail or fly inside the 12-mile area with regard to the islands as Secretary Carter stated we should? What about that one?” Senate Sullivan pressed, pointing to a poster of a nearly 10,000 foot runway the Chinese constructed on the reclaimed Fiery Cross Reef.

Admiral Harris responded, “That one, yes. We should -- we should be able to fly.” However, earlier in the hearing, Senator John McCain discovered that the U.S. had not “conducted a freedom of navigation operation within 12 nautical miles” since 2012.

“I think when the secretary of defense makes a definitive statement like that at a very important meeting of defense ministers in Asia, and then we don't follow up on it, it undermines our credibility, and that's something that we can't afford anymore,” responded Senator Sullivan. “Our credibility is undermined everywhere in the world, and we [can’t afford] it here.”