China and Russia Challenge Legality of US Claims to Seabed Floor
- US can’t make unilateral declarations, China’s delegate says
- American delegate counters that his country followed the rules
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US claims to a vast section of the seabed floor — and the potential resources buried within — have no basis in international law and should be rejected, according to government representatives from Russia and China.
The comments came during a debate at a session of the International Seabed Authority in Kingston, Jamaica, in response to recent claims by the US that would add about 1 million square kilometers (386,100 square miles) to its continental shelf in the Bering Sea, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.