On Jan. 16, Taiwan president-elect Tsai Ing-wen said she would strengthen ties with Japan, and called for freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea.
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That is why Japan has not followed China’s example in the South China Sea and created manmade islands with thousands of tonnes of sand and concrete; instead, it has tried to prevent existing coral beds from disappearing beneath the ocean, taking its EEZ with them.
February 1, 2016 (EIRNS)-Global Times, a publication put out by People’s Daily, China’s official government paper, published a lead editorial today warning that the United States is preparing for war, nuclear war, against China.
The U.S. ambassador says joint patrols with the Philippines in the South China Sea are possible when the United States demonstrates its freedom to navigation by sending planes and ships into China-claimed areas.
“During the operation, the USS Curtis Wilbur, transited in innocent passage within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island”, Urban said, adding that this operation was about challenging excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights and freedoms of the United States and others, not about territorial claims to land features.
“What we’re now finding is that there are of course multiple outposts now that are manned, so wherever we go on our normal Gateway patrol, we now find that there is an increasing number of locations where the challenge would occur”. The latest operation was particularly aimed at China, which has raised tensions with the USA and its Southeast Asian neighbors by embarking on massive construction of man-made islands and airstrips in contested waters. Obviously, the USA warship’s incursion into China’s territorial sea without authorization violated both Chinese and worldwide law.
What’s ironic is that the Chinese regime is calling the incident an act to establish US hegemony, when in fact it was to counter Chinese hegemony already being claimed over the entire region. “That is true in the South China Sea, as in other places around the globe”.
The US Navy conducted a similar exercise in October in which the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, one of seven artificial islands built by China in the Spratlys.
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It also “ignores numerous littoral states’ sovereignty and security and maritime rights, seriously harming relevant regional peace and stability”, he added. In May 2014, China parked a huge oil drilling platform off the Vietnamese coast in the area, prompting Vietnam to send fishing boats and coast guard vessels to harass the rig and nearby Chinese vessels.
