這些共享的利益正面臨史無前例、來自中國的威脅。北京當局透過恫嚇來動搖南海沿岸國家的主權權利，試圖強迫它們放棄外海資源、樹立中國單方霸權、以「強權決定是非」取代國際法。北京的明目張膽已行之有年。2010年，時任中國外交部長楊潔箎對東協國家外長表示：「中國是大國，其他國家是小國，事實就是如此。」中國掠奪式的世界觀在21世紀並無容身之地。
These shared interests have come under unprecedented threat from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). 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.” Beijing’s approach has been clear for years. In 2010, then-PRC Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told his ASEAN counterparts that “China is a big country and other countries are small countries and that is just a fact.” The PRC’s predatory world view has no place in the 21st century.
中國沒有任何法理依據，在南海為所欲為。北京當局在2009年正式宣布南海「九段線」的主張，然而迄今並未提出一致的法理基礎。2016年7月12日，常設仲裁法院一致判決，根據中國也簽署的1982年《聯合國海洋法公約》，中國的海事聲索不具國際法的法理基礎。對於本案絕大部分的主張，常設仲裁法院都站在原告菲律賓這邊。
The PRC has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region. Beijing has offered no coherent legal basis for its “Nine-Dashed Line” claim in the South China Sea since formally announcing it in 2009. In a unanimous decision on July 12, 2016, an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention – to which the PRC is a state party – rejected the PRC’s maritime claims as having no basis in international law. The Tribunal sided squarely with the Philippines, which brought the arbitration case, on almost all claims.
