The U.S. just ramped up its opposition to Beijing's South China Sea claims

Mike Pompeo.
(Image credit: TOM BRENNER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The United States has previously said it considers Beijing's territorial claims over most of the South China Sea unlawful, but Washington has officially remained neutral, refusing to pick a side between China and Southeast Asian countries like Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam that have clashed over the crucial body of water, instead advocating for freedom of the seas.

But in a statement Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is strengthening its policy on the issue and making clear that China's claims "are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them." The statement appears to be a preview of an expected position paper that officially rejects specific Chinese claims for the first time, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.