In what is the first direct protest against Beijing by a Japanese cabinet member, the minister asked the Chinese ambassador to explain the continued intrusions and expressed concern over the movement of Chinese fleet in its waters, Efe news reported.
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China is now building hangars hardened against bomb attacks for its military aircraft at Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the South China Sea as can be seen in new satellite photos made public by an American think tank based in Washington D.C.
Ties around the region have been strained in the lead-up to and since The Hague ruling.
The images have emerged about a month after an global court in The Hague ruled against China’s sweeping claims in the resource-rich region, a ruling emphatically rejected by Beijing.
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.
China has refused to recognize the court ruling on a case brought by the Philippines.
Following the ruling by an worldwide tribunal last month which rejected Beijing’s claims over much of the disputed sea area, China is campaigning against the issue to be raised in G20 Summit saying it is a matter to be resolved between parties concerned and outsiders has no role.
“Except for a brief visit by a military transport plane to Fiery Cross Reef earlier this year, there is no evidence that Beijing has deployed military aircraft to these outposts”.
“They are far thicker than you would build for any civilian objective”, Gregory Poling, director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, told the Times.
Adm. Scott Swift also criticized China-Russia joint naval exercises planned next month in the South China Sea, saying the choice of location was not conducive to “increasing the stability within the region”.
Also Tuesday, Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos said in Hong Kong that he wants to focus on points of common interest with China such as tourism and commercial fishing as part of efforts to smooth relations with Beijing roiled by the South China Sea dispute.
“They’re reinforced to take a strike”.
“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly islands and nearby waters”, China’s Defence Ministry said in a faxed response to a request for comment on Tuesday. Cheng said after the meeting that he told Kishida the islands were an integral part of China’s territory and that the dispute should be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.
China will open a laboratory in Hainan province in November that will focus on the use of marine resources in the South China Sea, a provincial official said.
READ: Philippines wins arbitration case vs.
It is rare for so many Chinese fishing vessels to be seen in the disputed waters.
Ramos, 88, served as the Philippine President from 1992 to 1998.
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Separately, relations between China and another US ally, South Korea, have been strained in recent days by a decision by South Korea and the United States to deploy an advanced anti-missile defense system, to guard against North Korean attacks, that China fears could be used against its military.
