U.S. Sees No `Recent' China Pressure on Global Oil Companies in South Sea
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month offered to help resolve territorial disputes in the Aouth China Sea, irking China, which claims the sea as its own.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month offered to help resolve territorial disputes in the Aouth China Sea, irking China, which claims the sea as its own. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
The Pentagon hasn’t seen any “recent” Chinese intimidation of global oil and gas companies operating in the South China Sea, according to Robert Scher, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month offered to help resolve territorial disputes in the waters, irking China, which claims the sea as its own. In June, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called the waters an “area of growing concern” and objected to efforts to intimidate corporations.
“I’m not aware of any recent examples” of Chinese pressure, Scher said in an interview in Hanoi late yesterday after meeting his Vietnamese counterpart. “What is important to recognize is the clear statement of Secretary Gates and Secretary Clinton that free and open access to these areas in line with customary international law is an important interest for the U.S.”
Scher’s visit, a week after the U.S. Navy held a weeklong exercise with Vietnam, aims to build on improved defense ties. Gates plans to visit Hanoi in October to meet his counterparts from Vietnam, China and 15 other countries.
China has bolstered its naval capabilities in the past decade, enhancing the ability to enforce territorial claims. Scher said he didn’t anticipate another confrontation between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea, where Chinese fishing boats harassed two American naval vessels a year ago.
‘Responsible Entities’
“Both navies are very responsible entities and I don’t foresee any kind of clashes,” Scher said. “I hope that we can continue to keep those structures in place between our countries to deal with any potential mistakes or miscalculations.”
In July 2008, China said it opposed a plan by Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest oil company, to explore for petroleum in the South China Sea. In 2007, BP Plc abandoned planned exploration in an area known as Block 5-2 between the Spratly Islands and an existing BP-operated gas project in Vietnamese waters, because of competing ownership claims between China and Vietnam, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said Aug. 5 that China had conducted seismic surveys of areas near the Paracel islands and encompassing its continental shelf. A day later, China asserted its sovereignty over the area.
“We support the development of China in the belief and in the expectation that the rise of China does not breach other nations’ sovereignty and interests,” Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vietnam’s deputy defense minister, told reporters yesterday at a joint briefing with Scher.
The South China Sea covers 3.5 million square kilometers (1.4 million square miles) stretching from Singapore to the Straits of Taiwan. Its waters carry about half the world’s merchant fleet by tonnage each year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Estimates of oil and gas reserves in the waters vary, with some Chinese studies suggesting they contain more oil than Iran and more natural gas than Saudi Arabia, according to the U.S. agency. Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan also claim some or all of the disputed islands.
To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net
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