Earlier this week, as reported by various state media outlets, China’s Fan Changlong, one of the vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission which controls China’s military visited a number of disputed and man made (China) islands and reefs in the South China Sea.
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“Later today, I will visit the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis, sailing in the South China Sea, after some of its sailors and Marines participated with you in Balikatan”, Carter said in Manila, referring to annual war games with the Philippines that ended today.
“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, AP reports.
Hundreds of USA troops and some aircraft will stay behind in the Philippines temporarily, and on Thursday, the two countries revealed they had begun conducting joint patrols in the South China Sea.
“The Chinese military will pay close attention to the situation, and resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime interests”, the statement said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spelled out China’s stance after the Pentagon said that the U.S.-Philippines joint patrols in the SCS “will occur regularly”.
“They’re perfectly good vessels and we have seen how good and useful they are”, he said.
In India this week, Carter won a preliminary but long-awaited agreement to share military logistics, considered a necessary step to deeper security cooperation between the two countries. “These are to ensure freedom of navigation in the region which benefits all nations because it allows the free, unhampered flow of trade which is to the benefit of all the economies of the region”, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III said over radio dzRB.
“Countries across the Asia-Pacific are voicing concern with China’s land reclamation, which stands out in size and scope, as well as its militarization in the South China Sea”, Carter said.
China has blasted the USA for “militarizing” the West Philippine Sea with its move to deepen its defense ties with the Philippines through joint patrols in the contested waters.
China’s claims to more than four-fifths of the South China Sea have sparked tensions with other Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam.
He said the only reason America’s presence in the region comes up as an issue is because of China’s behavior over the last year- and “that’s a question of Chinese behavior”.
United States congressmen have castigated China over its aggressive actions in its territorial claims in the South China Sea and have called on the defense department not to include China in the exercises.
“The United States intends to continue to play a role in keeping peace and stability in this region'” said Carter, who was accompanied by Philippines defense minister Voltaire Gazmin.
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“We’ve always had good and constructive discussions but our position is that all claimants, all claimants, should settle disputes peacefully and in accordance with worldwide law”, Turnbull told reporters in Beijing on Friday, a day after his meeting with Li.
