The United States officially dismissed China’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea and termed Beijing’s campaign of bullying to control them as completely unlawful.

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo issued a statement on the US position on Maritime claims in the South China Sea, saying that the Chinese government has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region.

Pompeo said that Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the South China Sea, bully them out of offshore resources, assert unilateral dominion, and replace international law with might makes right.