Their latest conversation, in January, touched on China’s new airport on Yongshu Reef in the Nansha Islands, which was put into use that month.
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Terming China as the biggest beneficiary of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea he was quoted as saying at a meeting here that Beijing won’t let anybody damage it.
Vietnam has its own sovereignty disputes with China, but has been reserved in its comments on last week’s verdict, welcoming it but not saying if Hanoi would pursue the same legal path as the Philippines. However, the 88-year-old former leader cited his age and other commitments in suggesting he may not be up for the job. This comes after the tribunal awarded the islands to the Philippines.
The Chinese government says the ruling is “null and void” and has “no binding force”.
Adm Richardson was quoted as saying in the Xinhua report that the U.S. was keen to work with China on improving mutual trust between their militaries.
President Barack Obama’s nominee for the next US ambassador to the Philippines, Sung Kim, said the United States would support China-Philippines negotiations that were free from “coercion and undue pressure”.
After meetings in Beijing, Richardson will also visit Qingdao, Shandong province, to see the navy’s submarine academy and tour China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.
Asked if the Duterte government would help the Filipinos regain access to the Chinese-guarded shoal, Calida said the government would, diplomatically. In June 2015, data from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative showed that China’s artificial islands add up to around a third of the city of Manila.
U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, foreground right, escorted by Commander of the Chinese Navy, Adm. Wu Shengli, walks past a member of an honor guard whose hat fall off during a welcome ceremony at the Chinese Navy Headquarters in Beijing, Monday, July 18, 2016. At a US congressional hearing, retired Pacific commander Adm. Dennis Blair said the USA should be willing to use force against China in case of “aggression” at Scarborough Shoal. He expects China to fill it in and build, similar to what China did with with Spratly Islands further to the south.
China has also conducted combat air patrols in the region, which are slated to become a “regular” practice in the future, according to state newsagency Xinhua. The agency also said Abe and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had agreed the ruling must be observed.
China warned against threatening its security in the South China Sea after an global tribunal handed the Philippines a victory by saying Beijing had no legal basis for its expansive claims there. “But china’s claim is so excessive, because if you look at the map, what they claim to be their 9-dash line already encompasses about 90-percent of the whole South China Sea”.
“If our security is being threatened, of course we have the right to demarcate a zone”. While these exercises will end on Thursday, Beijing has stressed that no civilian vessels are permitted in the area until the drills are complete.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said Beijing’s position on the case had the support of Laos, the current chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), a regional bloc long dogged by discord over how to deal with China’s maritime assertiveness.
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China’s Maritime Safety Administration made an announcement on Monday that ships were “prohibited” from entering a certain area off the coast of Hainan between July 19 and July 21 as the navy will conduct a drill.
