1995和2010年，美国宣布南海应服从《1982年联合国海洋公约法》的管辖（讽刺的是美国至今尚未批准这一公约 ） ， 但美国不对领土要求表明态度。
In 1995, and again in 2010, the US declared that the waters of the South China Sea should be governed by the 1982 United Nations Law of the Seas Treaty (which, ironically, the US has not yet ratified), but that the US takes no position on the territorial claims.