How the US Department of State characterized the illegal activities of China in the South China Sea.

“China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea … are baseless, illegal and unreasonable,” the US State Department document on the implementation of the US strategy in the Indo-Pacific region says in a statement.

It notes that “these claims, which have no legal, historical or geographical value, lead to real costs for other countries.”

“Through repeated provocative actions aimed at asserting its territorial claims, Beijing is preventing ASEAN members from gaining access to more than $ 2.5 trillion in recoverable energy reserves, while contributing to instability and the risk of conflict,” said the State Department.

As a confirmation of Washington’s commitment to ensuring security in the region, the document says that currently, the number of US military and civilian personnel in the zone of responsibility of the Indo-Pacific Command of the US Armed Forces reaches 375 thousand people, and “we continue to strengthen this presence”.

The U.S. strategy in the region was outlined by President Donald Trump in November 2017 in Vietnam.