A top Chinese general says China’s newly created islands in the disputed South China Sea mainly aim to provide services to shipping, dismissing concerns that Beijing is seeking to strengthen its control over the strategically vital region.
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Beijing is open to maritime accidental encounter and search and rescue drills in the South China Sea with members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) next year, China’s defense minister said in a meet with ASEAN defense chiefs.
“China absolutely must not permit the USA side’s warships and planes to behave unscrupulously near islands and reefs”, stated a comment in China’s Global Times newspaper, adding that such behavior would warrant a “counterattack”.
Vietnam and Taiwan also claim the Spratlys, and the Philippines and Malaysia hold claims on individual islands.
Indonesia’s Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu proposed joint “peace patrols” between China and ASEAN countries in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the gatherings, according to Jakarta’s state-run news agency Antara. Based on an analysis of the software and infrastructure used, the site was infected with malware by someone in China, according to ThreatConnect Inc., a USA security company.
Just as Article 15 of UNCLOS stipulates, delimiting the territorial seas of China and other countries in SCS shall be in accordance with China’s “historic title” to the region, the Xinhua commentary said.
Following Fan’s remarks, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, whose country is a claimant in the South China Sea, said the “statement was reassuring to us all”, but cautioned that the best way to address concerns was the establishment of a code of conduct for claimants in the region.
Senior officials in Washington have signalled that the USA military could sail close by the islands in the coming days or weeks to demonstrate that Washington does not recognise a Chinese claim to territorial waters around them.
Australia needs to walk a fine line with China, seeking to protect trade routes to its north without straining ties with its biggest trading partner, a large buyer of its iron ore and coal.
Also, Prashanth Parameswaran interviews Rear Admiral Charlie Williams and offers a nice summary of recent U.S.-sponsored military exercises in the Asia Pacific, as well as other strategic insights into the region.
China vastly expanded the scope of the Xiangshan Forum past year, making it an annual rather than biennial event and boosting participation to more than 300 defense officials and academics from 47 countries.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has earlier expressed support for the US’ plan to challenge China’s territorial claims by deploying a Navy ship near the Chinese-built islands in the disputed waters.
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At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups – the Spratly Islands, off the coast of the Philippines, and the Paracel Islands, off the coasts of Vietnam and China. Chinese officials have argued that the reclamation projects have no military goal. The foreign ministry contends its island-building program in the South China Sea is legitimate because the reefs are its sovereign territory, and that the construction is for peaceful purposes.
