“Military exchanges by relevant countries should not target third parties, much less support a few countries in challenging China’s sovereignty and security, inciting regional contradictions and sabotaging regional peace and stability”, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement in response to Carter’s announcement. “So Japan’s approach is perhaps better thought through, but it’s China’s actions that are making it successful”.
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China claims most of the South China Sea, but Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
“The key goal is to stabilize a region anxious about Chinese assertiveness”, Cronin said. Two Vietnamese frigates made port calls to Manila in 2014 and a Philippine warship may do the same in Vietnam this June.
The other bases to be used by the USA military are a major army training camp with its own airstrip in the north, and two air bases in the central and southern islands of the archipelago. It came after the two vessels, accompanied by an MSDF submarine, made a similar trip to Subic Bay in the Philippines for drills.
Officials have accused China of slowly trying to take over the South China Sea, which could threaten $5.3 trillion in trade as ships pass through the global waters there.
A senior U.S. defense official said the new U.S. -Philippines agreement will enhance the military’s ability to “operate in the region over the South China Sea” and “will strengthen our deterrent message as well”.
A small contingent of Australian forces are also taking part.
NHK television reported this month that the African country of Chad had been invited to attend the G7 summit in May.
On Monday, G7 foreign ministers said after meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima that they opposed “any intimidating coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions” in the East and South China Seas.
The US has also recently conducted joint patrols in the sea with Japan.
On the Korean Peninsula issue, he said that Russian Federation and China recognize the right of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but do not accept its nuclear ambitions.
“Tokyo’s burst of activity is undoubtedly timed to the diplomatic agenda”, said Cronin.
The foreign ministers issued the statement despite calls from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday, April 9, asking them to refrain from playing up with the maritime dispute issue.
The announcement by Defense Secretary Ash Carter was the first time the USA revealed that its ships had conducted patrols with the Philippines in the South China Sea, a somewhat rare move not done with many other partners in the region.
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The sand and gravel would have either killed fish or expelled them from the reefs, the report said, citing John W. McManus, professor of marine biology and ecology in the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. Its AirSea Battle strategy envisages a massive bombardment of the Chinese mainland as well as a naval blockade to prevent Chinese ships from importing vital energy and raw materials from Africa and the Middle East via the South China Sea.
