US Senate to China: Do not destabilize Asia-Pacific region

Senate members said on Friday that the US Senate passed a resolution co-sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez late Thursday.
 
“The United States is an Asia-Pacific nation and we have an abiding national security interest in the maintenance of regional stability, as recent events have demonstrated,” Menendez said.
 
Senators Marco Rubio, Ben Cardin, and John McCain also co-sponsored the legislation.
 
The Senate bill condemns "coercive and threatening actions or the use of force to impede freedom of operations in international airspace by military or civilian aircraft, to alter the status quo or to destabilize the Asia-Pacific region."
 
Last year, China declared an Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea, saying all military and commercial aircraft should inform the Chinese government before entering the region.
 
After the declaration, American, Japanese and South Korean military planes have breached the zone without informing China.
 
The bill also urges China to refrain from implementing the defense zone. It urges all parties to refrain from "efforts to unlawfully assert administration over disputed claims."
 
There have been a series of "alarming developments" over territorial dispute in the region, that have created real tension and the potential for conflict "that could easily spill over into a broader regional conflict," according to Menendez’s statement.
 
“As countries like China attempt to disrupt the region by violating international agreements and making illegitimate territorial claims, it's a key time for the US government to remind our allies, partners in the region and the entire world that America is fully committed to continued peace and prosperity in Asia," Rubio said.