“Indeed, in the South China Sea, China has taken some expansive and unprecedented actions that have generated concerns about China’s strategic intentions”.
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Sun’s comments came after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier in the day that Washington would consider any Chinese setting up of an air defense identification zone over the disputed region to be a “provocative and destabilizing act”.
Last month, Beijing demanded an end to USA surveillance near China after two Chinese fighter jets carried out what the Pentagon said was an “unsafe” intercept of a US military reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea.
Give us your assessment of this escalation of war of words between the United States and China? Kerry’s remarks coincided with the Shangri-La Dialogue, which took place over the weekend in Singapore and is Asia’s premier security forum, drawing leaders from across the region.
The waterway has become a flashpoint between the United States, which increased its focus on the Asia-Pacific under President Barack Obama’s “pivot”, and China, which is projecting ever greater economic, political and military power in the region.
Mr Kerry’s brief stop in the homeland of Genghis Khan, famous for its traditional ger dwellings, comes before he travels to Beijing for annual US-China strategic and economic talks.
Manila accuses China of taking effective control of the Scarborough Shoal in 2012 and has brought a case against Beijing to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.
Carter also announced that the U.S., Japan and South Korea would hold a ballistic missile warning test this month.
Hua said that Beijing has never acknowledged the so-called “status-quo” formed by other countries’ illegal occupation of Chinese territory and is not going to do so.
Addressing at the Shangri La Dialogue, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar made it clear that even as India do not take a position on territorial disputes, which he said, should be resolved peacefully without the threat or use of force, but it firmly believe in freedom of navigation in the worldwide waters, including the South China Sea.
Officials say the dispute should be resolved through bilateral talks.
“China upholds a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security outlook for the region and believes that regional countries shall work together to build and share a path of regional security that benefits all”, Hua said. “We don’t make trouble but we don’t fear trouble”.
China has accused the Philippines of seeking to negate Beijing’s sovereignty in the South China Sea by describing Taiping Island as a reef and not an island.
Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo said China will not be bullied in the South China Sea and will not back down over a pending United Nations ruling over its claims in a vital trade route.
He went on, “I would rather that we didn’t have to, but we have to operate from a position of strength against all outcomes, and that’s why you have the Pacific Command, among other things, out there”. No matter the ruling, China probably won’t follow along. Beijing has said it won’t accept negotiations that rely on the Hague ruling, and accused the US of hyping up the issue as a pretext for advancing its own military footprint in the region.
“The Defense Department maintains its world-leading capabilities because the United States has made incomparable investments in it over decades”.
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Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.
