For Immediate Release
STATEMENT BY MORGAN ORTAGUS
SPOKESPERSON
April 6, 2020
Permalink: https://2017-2021.state.gov/prcs-reported-sinking-of-a-vietnamese-fishing-vessel-in-the-south-china-sea/index.html
We are seriously concerned by reports of the PRC’s sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
This incident is the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea.
Since the outbreak of the global pandemic, Beijing has also announced new “research stations” on military bases it built on Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef, and landed special military aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef. The PRC has also continued to deploy maritime militia around the Spratly Islands. China’s Nine-Dashed Line was deemed an unlawful maritime claim by an arbitral tribunal convened under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention in July 2016, a position shared by the U.S. Government.
We call on the PRC to remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemic, and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea.
美国国务院
发言人办公室
华盛顿哥伦比亚特区（Washington, D.C.）
2020年4月6日
发言人摩根·奥特葛斯（MORGAN ORTAGUS）就中华人民共和国在南中国海（South China Sea）撞沉越南渔船一事发表声明
据报道中华人民共和国在南中国海帕拉塞尔群岛（Paracel Islands）附近撞沉一艘越南渔船。我们对此表示严重关注。
中华人民共和国为在南中国海提出的非法海事索求并使其东南亚邻国处于不利地位采取了大量的一系列行动。这次事件是最近实施的行动。
自全球疫情爆发以来，北京还宣布在永暑礁（Fiery Cross Reef）和渚碧礁（Subi Reef）建立的军事基地上启用新的“研究站”，并派特种军用飞机在永暑礁降落。中华人民共和国还继续在斯普拉特利群島（Spratly Islands）周围部署海上民兵。2016年7月，中国的九段线（Nine-Dashed Line）被根据1982年海洋法公约（Law of the Sea Convention）建立的仲裁法庭认定属于非法海事索求。美国对此采取同样立场。
我们呼吁中华人民共和国仍然以支持抗击全球疫情的国际性努力为重，停止利用其他国家注意力分散的状态或其弱点扩大在南中国海的非法索求。
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