The United States Department of State has allocated $55 million in new funding to improve the maritime law enforcement capabilities of Indo-Pacific countries.
In a statement on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the importance of collective efforts to advance a free and open South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in global trade flow annually.
The secretary also underscored China’s expansive and unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea and the destabilizing ways it attempts to enforce them.
This funding will support countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pacific Island nations, and maritime South Asian countries in their efforts to combat illicit maritime activities, exercise their sovereign rights, and interdict illegal fishing and maritime trafficking operations.
The fresh funding was announced during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, where Rubio co-hosted a ministerial meeting on “Reinforcing Cooperation to Achieve a Secure and Stable Maritime Domain.”
Attendees included his counterparts from the Philippines, Australia, Estonia, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, Romania, and the UK, among others.
To recall, on September 13, Rubio expressed his support for the Philippines in rejecting China’s destabilizing plans to establish a “national nature reserve” at Scarborough Reef.
He emphasized that China’s move is ‘another coercive attempt to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea.
Since 2017, the United States has provided over $1.5 billion in maritime security assistance to the Indo-Pacific region.
