The new landfill is 12km north of Woody Island, which grabbed headlines last month with reports that China had deployed HQ-9 surface- to-air missiles there.
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Such a deployment would put the aircraft within striking distance of the disputed South China Sea, though Robinson focused on the training and operational aspects of the envisaged rotation.
Wang was also asked about the Philippines case against China in an arbitration court in The Hague on the South China Sea dispute.
General Lori Robinson, the Commander of US Pacific Air Forces, said yesterday in Canberra that the US had started discussions with Australia on landing B-1 bombers, older B52 bombers and aerial refuelling tankers in the country’s strategically important northern air bases.
China’s steady buildup has USA officials increasingly warning that, if left unchecked, Beijing will gain de facto control over the disputed South China and raise the risk of military conflict.
Hong did not mention the USA missile shield, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, by name, but China has long voiced opposition to the possible deployment of the THAAD battery to South Korea, claiming it would be detrimental to its own security. The US lays no claims to the waters, but says it has an interest in ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight and non-use of force and coercion to assert claims.
In an apparent reference to the US, Mr. Wang said another nation’s claim to freedom of navigation in the region doesn’t give it the right to do whatever it wants. Over the past two years, China has added to the sea about 3,000 acres of landfill to reefs and rocks, some of which now host self-propelled artillery and airfields capable of supporting a variety of military aircraft.
But Robinson said the United States and China had signed an agreement on air-to-air rules of behavior in global airspace in September and would continue discussions on the subject this year, according to the AP report.
Wang’s tone changed considerably when questioned on the South China Sea by a reporter from Cambodia, China’s strongest ally within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which also includes disputants Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. “Our ancestors worked diligently here for generations”, Wang said.
To that end, Beijing is exploring the possibility of establishing a “South China Sea littoral states cooperation mechanism” under which the countries involved would “work together to maintain and build our common home, the South China Sea”, he said.
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Stars and Stripes reporter Erik Slavin contributed to this article.
