Aboard the USS John C Stennis/Beijing: The chief United States defence official visited an American aircraft carrier transiting the disputed South China Sea on Friday, as China said one of its top military officers had visited islands and reefs in the region to oversee building work.
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The ministry’s comments came shortly after Thursday’s announcement that the US would send troops and planes to the Philippines for more frequent rotations and will increase joint sea and air patrols with Philippine forces in the South China Sea.
“The Chinese military will pay very close attention to related developments, and firmly safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests”.
The United States is still inviting China to take part in a mammoth, multinational naval exercise in the Pacific later this year despite growing bilateral tensions, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Friday. “The South China Sea situation generally maintains stability with joint efforts by China and relevant countries”, the response stated.
“This is the network – peaceful, principled and inclusive – America continues to stand for, and stand with”, he said.
The foreign ministry spelled out China’s stance after the Pentagon said that US-Philippines joint patrols in the South China Sea will occur “regularly”.
Brunei does not claim any of the disputed islands, but Malaysia claims a small number of islands in the area.
The carrier has spent the last three weeks in the South China Sea performing routine patrols, but not the freedom-of-navigation operations that involve a USA vessel sailing within the 12-mile waters that border any of the Chinese-claimed man-made islands. The United States, which is not a claimant, contends that the militarization of the islands may hinder navigation in waters that carry more than $5 trillion of trade a year. “If that’s the case, then many countries, not only in this region, will hope that these big countries can act in accordance with global law”. About 200 USA airmen who joined war games that started on April 4 will stay behind to continue joint training, Carter said.
The Chinese defense ministry on Thursday said strengthening US-Philippine defense ties reflected “Cold War mentality”.
“Our dispute with China can never be used as a reason to allow another country to violate our sovereignty”, its secretary-general, Renato Reyes, said in a statement, in apparent reference to the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement that grants Washington an increased military presence in the Philippines.
BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) – China on Monday slammed the United States and the Philippines for increasing their military presence in the South China Sea, as the Southeast Asian country announced plans to give the USA access to five bases. “We don’t take sides.” he said.
USA 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.
When they leave, they’ll be followed by other U.S. military forces rotating in.
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Carter’s remarks, once again produced strong criticism in Beijing, which has repeatedly warned against USA interference in the region.
