US Navy Captain Darryn James, spokesman for US Pacific Command, said China’s repeated deployment of advanced fighter aircraft to Woody Island continued a disturbing trend.
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“China’s intent to militarise the South China Sea is as certain as a traffic jam in DC”, Harris said in reference to congestion on the streets of Washington.
China controversially claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, despite rival claims from Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan.
“We urge the Australian side to cherish the hard-won good momentum of development in bilateral relations and don’t take part in or conduct any activities that may compromise the stability of the region”, he said.
“On the other hand, in order to uphold the worldwide nuclear nonproliferation regime, for the sake of denuclearisation, our exchanges will be affected to some extent”, he said. The imagery also shows that China has built or is building two radar towers, a lighthouse, a communications tower, bunker, and quay for the docking of supply ships. During the trip, Kerry expressed his wishes for the militarization of “occupied features” to come to a halt, while Wang asked that the US halt its close-up military confrontations and patrols of the region.
China’s claims to nearly all of the South China Sea are widely disputed and the body of water has always been viewed as a potential flashpoint.
Some of the world’s busiest sea lanes traverse the South China Sea, which is also a rich fishing ground and may contain petroleum reserves under the sea bed.
The US and its ally South Korea are discussing deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, known as THAAD, contending that it would be aimed exclusively at preventing a threatened North Korean attack.
“This would be very important in a Chinese anti-access area denial strategy that sought to reduce the ability of the U.S.to operate freely in the South China Sea, including bringing forces up through the South China Sea in case of any future crisis in Northeast Asia”, Gregory Polling, head of the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative at CSIS, told The Washington Post. “I need weapon systems of increase lethality that go faster, go further and are more survivable.”, he added.
China claims most of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year and where islets, reefs and atolls are believed to be sitting atop vast energy reserves.
Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Thursday said China’s military work in the South China Sea was increasingly spurring regional neighbours to oppose Beijing.
There would also be an unprecedented ban on the transfer to North Korea of any item that could directly contribute to the operational capabilities of the North Korean armed forces, such as trucks that could be modified for military purposes.
“I am concerned about the possibility that China might declare an ADIZ”, Harris said. The United States itself has been forced to adopt a more robust posture in the Indo-Pacific.
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Once the resolution is implemented, it will effectively limit further progress of the DPRK’s nuclear missile programme, Wang said.
