U.S. and Philippine defense officials challenged Beijing’s maritime lawfare on Monday at a regional security conference in Malaysia, accusing the Chinese regime of using false legal claims and unilateral rules to pressure other countries into surrendering sovereign rights.
Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said the ruling Chinese Communist Party regularly employs lawfare as a pretext for coercion and uses its public opinion, psychological, and legal warfare to isolate, intimidate, and delegitimize countries and their territorial integrity.
Paparo accused Beijing of declaring laws unilaterally and applying them retroactively—using newly asserted Chinese rules over contested areas to challenge rights that neighboring countries say they already possess under international law….
US, Philippine Officials Challenge Beijing’s Maritime Lawfare
