The United States and China remained apart Tuesday over Beijing’s alleged bid to use disputed areas in the South China Sea for military purposes as a report surfaced that China sent fighter jets to a contested part of the Paracel Islands in the sea.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Washington that China and the U.S. had made “significant progress” after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday.
The likely deployment of powerful radar by China on an island in the South China Sea signifies the Chinese regime’s attempt at “effective control” over the disputed waters, the home to many competing maritime claims and crucial shipping lanes, according to an American think tank.
Top Chinese officials did say the recent reclamation of islands and reefs is mainly aimed at providing better services at sea.
Last week, China confirmed it had placed “weapons” on Woody Island, defending what it said was its sovereign right to do so. “You’d have to believe in a flat earth to believe otherwise”.
“The U.S.is not involved in the South China Sea dispute, and this is not and should not become a problem between China and the United States”, Hua told a daily news briefing.
In a report released on February 22, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) presents satellite images of Cuarteron Reef and highlights what looks like a high-frequency radar installation.
Admiral Scott Swift, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said last week the latest deployment of HQ-9 missiles was the third time that China had put them on the island, according to a report on U.S. Internet site Military.com. A leading US military officer told Congress that China was seeking to control East Asia.
Woody Island, which is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, has had an operational airfield since the 1990s but it was upgraded past year to accommodate the J-11. Robert C. Francis Jr., as Carter visited the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.
Wang said that “parallel” talks would try to move North Korea toward denuclearization and also cement peace between Pyongyang and Seoul.
Mr Earnest’s remarks came in response to Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying who on Monday said China was doing in the South China Sea what the U.S. does in Hawaii.
Non-militarization of the islands in the South China Sea has been a common wish expressed by all parties in this region -including China.
China’s Ministry of Defense said on its microblog on Tuesday that China had established “necessary defensive facilities” that were “legal and appropriate”.
Harris also said he supported regular U.S. air and naval patrols to assert freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, a vital waterway through which more than US$5 trillion in global trade passes every year.
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While China has joined in the worldwide criticism, it has balked at imposing the kind of tough economic sanctions that the USA wants, fearing it could threaten the stability of North Korea, a neighbor and traditional ally of Beijing. At the press conference, Kerry acknowledged China’s concern but absurdly declared that the THAAD system was only under discussion because of North Korea’s “provocative actions”.
