McCain says the Obama administration’s “risk aversion” has failed to prevent China’s coercive behavior in the disputed South China Sea.
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Referring to US ships sailing near the islands, he said the USA was only doing what it had for decades – “ensuring that these sea lines of communication remain open”.
The report, which based its analysis on satellite images from January and February, said China already had significant radar coverage of the northern part of the East Vietnam Sea given its mainland installations and in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago to the northwest of Truong Sa.
China denies it has aggressive intentions. “It is deliberately stirring up trouble with ulterior motives and exaggerating the tension”, China said in statement.
“China is exercising the right of self-preservation that every country enjoys according to global law, which is beyond reproach”, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing. The two diplomats are expected to discuss issues surrounding North Korea and the South China Sea.
Pyongyang had launched a long-range rocket on Feb 7 carrying what it called a satellite, and also conducted a nuclear test on Jan 6, both in violation of United Nations sanctions.
However, Hua repeated China’s strong opposition to the possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile system in South Korea. “We are firmly opposed to any country’s attempt to hurt China’s strategic security interests by making use of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue”.
China, North Korea’s most important ally and largest trading partner, has historically been reluctant to put undue pressure on its southern neighbour for fear of destabilising the country and unleashing a flood of refugees across their border.
The U.S. should “stop hyping the South China Sea issue and the tense atmosphere there” but instead play a “constructive” role in the region, she added.
“When I started flying P-3s in the 1970s we had the Harpoon missile, and it’s the same one we have today”, Harris said. He said the administration’s “risk aversion” has failed to prevent China’s coercive behavior.
A U.S. official, who did not want to be otherwise identified, told Reuters the U.S. Navy plans to carry out more frequent and complex freedom-of-navigation operations in the region and could schedule another in coming weeks.
He expressed concern, however, over such activities being “portrayed as US versus China”.
“We hope that China and the USA will arrange high-level exchanges and dialogues for 2016, discuss practical cooperation and the handling of sensitive issues to promote the sustainable, healthy and stable growth of bilateral relations through the visit”, Hua said at a regular news briefing.
China’s has also built military-length airstrips on artificial islands in the South China Sea.
CSIS said that while the earlier deployment of HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles was “notable” it “does not alter the military balance in the South China Sea”.
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But the new radar facilities could, it added. The committee was taking testimony from the commanders of USA forces in the Pacific and Korea.
