US diplomat criticizes China for using coercion and intimidation as it presses maritime claims

BANGKOK (AP) — The top American diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific criticized China on Thursday for using intimidation tactics against other countries in the region to press its sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Speaking to reporters after returning to the United States from meetings with officials in Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei, Daniel Kritenbrink said he had used the trip to emphasize Washington’s commitment to ensuring all nations respect “freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight in the peaceful resolution of disputes.”

He said China “has taken a number of steps in the South China Sea that both run counter to international law, but that also utilize coercion to intimidate partners in ways that we find deeply unacceptable and destabilizing,” said Kritenbrink, who is the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own territory, and has active disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. It has become growingly assertive with its maritime presence in the resource-rich and busy waterway, and Kritenbrink’s comments came the same week that a Chinese coast guard ship sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel at sea.

The hostilities Tuesday off the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal were just the latest in the contested waters, which many fear could spark a larger conflict between China and the U.S. and its allies.

The U.S. regularly sails warships through the Taiwan Strait and conducts naval maneuvers in the South China Sea and “everywhere that international law allows, which Kritenbrink said demonstrates that “all countries share those same rights.” The U.S. strategy also