The US should ratify UNCLOS or shut up

If Washington wants to attack China’s claims in the South China Sea for breaching the so-called “constitution for the seas and oceans”, it might want to be a party to the convention first and so acquire standing among claimant nations.

• Alex Lo
• SCMP

In its latest reiteration, Washington says it stands ready to support smaller claimant countries locked in maritime disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. It’s certainly within the United States’ prerogative to support whomever it chooses.

But it wants to do so under the guise of international law, more specifically, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the…

• The US should…