China: Will respond to USA ships with all necessary means

The talks came two days after USS Lassen guided missile destroyer sailed close to one of the land formations claimed by China in the disputed Spratly Islands chain.

The tribunal, which conducts its hearings behind closed doors, said the Philippines has stressed it is not asking arbitrators “to decide the question of sovereignty over maritime features in the South China Sea that are claimed by both the Philippines and China” or rule on maritime boundaries in the region.

China took no forceful action during the USS Lassen’s sail-by, but strenuously protested the maneuver. China’s reaction fits the pattern in similar such incidents in recent years.

“We urge the United States not to continue down the wrong path. But if the USA side does continue, we’ll take all necessary measures needed”, Yang said. Chinese media initially made a restrained response to the violation of its waters, but ramped it up as USA officials said that they would continue the practice.

The the area is contested between the China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Bateman and a few other regional security analysts believe USA warships could find themselves surrounded if China sought to prevent future freedom-of-navigation patrols.

Earnest said that nations debating the territory should not use their size, influence or military to lay claim to the region.

An worldwide arbitration panel has ruled that it can hear a case brought by the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China, involving a group of islands in the South China Sea.

Such ruling by the five-man judges of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on October 29, three months after the Philippine legal team argued its case in The Hague last July, enables the court to finally proceed to formal deliberations on Manila’s complaint that challenges the legality of Beijing’s assertion that its ownership of almost the entire South China Sea is “indisputable” and “historical”.

The U. Pacific Command said Harris, who has been highly critical of China’s island building, would arrive in Beijing on Monday, while a USA official said Swift would go later in the year.

Despite criticism of China’s action in the South China Sea, foreign navies from the United States to Europe have continued to try to build ties with their Chinese counterparts. “However, we oppose to those countries undermine coastal state’s sovereignty and security interests under the cover of freedom of navigation”.

Bonnie Glaser, a South China Sea expert at the Center for Strategic and worldwide Studies in Washington, called the outcome “a major blow for China given that the opinion explicitly rejects China’s arguments that… the Philippines has not done enough to negotiate the issues with China”.

On the contrary, it added, “the Tribunal has held that the China-ASEAN Declaration was a political agreement that was not intended to be legally binding and was therefore not relevant to the provisions in the Convention that give priority to the resolution of disputes through any means agreed between the Parties”.

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But during the video-conference talks on Thursday, the Chinese had expressed no desire to cancel scheduled visits by Chinese ships to a Florida port next week, a USA official said, and that an upcoming visit to China by the commander of the US Pacific Command would still take place.