Obama administration to push Senate to ratify Sea Treaty to counter China rise

WASHINGTON: Obama administration officials will push for the US to join a 30-year-old international treaty that they say is now essential to counter China and maintain influence in Asia, while Republican critics say it would undermine US sovereignty.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey are due to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today to urge lawmakers to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The treaty was signed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton and subsequently endorsed by President George W. Bush. They will make their arguments against a backdrop of Washington's political personalities.

Democrats will soon lose a prominent Republican advocate with the departure of Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, who was defeated in his primary race. Lugar has sought ratification of the treaty for years in defiance of Senate Republican leaders, and the push now is something of a swan song for the six-term lawmaker.

The issue also provides a chance for Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry of Massachusetts, a contender to become secretary of state if President Obama wins re-election, to try to deliver for the administration.