China defiantly announced Monday it will militarily close off parts of the South China Sea to conduct war drills, a week after an global tribunal denied China’s historic claims to the majority of the region.
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Starting today, China will host military exercises off the east coast of its Hainan island province, its maritime administration said on its website, AFP reported.
The statement provided details of the closing but did not specify the type of exercises or the reason behind the drills.
The announcement came during a three-day visit to China by US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson to discuss the South China Sea dispute and ways to increase interaction between the two militaries, which continue to have tense ties.
While the tribunal ruled that some land features were not islands but rocks or reefs, which would not permit China to claim territorial waters around them according to UNCLOS, Beijing rejected the ruling by stating that it was not obligated to defer to UNCLOS on issues of sovereignty.
Naval chiefs from China and the United States are set to hold their first face-to-face meeting since the July 12 ruling on the arbitration case brought by the Philippines, which has intensified tensions in the South China Sea.
Filipinos expressed “excellent” trust in the United States, with a net trust rating of +72 and “good” level of trust for Australia which obtained +49 percent in this year’s second quarter survey.
Undated photo shows a Chinese H-6K bomber patrolling islands and reefs including Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea.
The ruling also criticized China’s efforts to build artificial islands in the Spratlys chain, known as Nansha in Chinese.
China is expected to increase its military investment in the South China Sea and significantly raise its overall defense spending to affirm its claim to the region.
China has refused to recognise last week’s ruling by an arbitration court in The Hague, which invalidated its vast claims in the South China Sea.
“We will never sacrifice our sovereignty and interests in the South China Sea”, Wu said, stressing that it is China’s “core interest” and concerns the foundation of the Party’s governance, the country’s security and stability and the Chinese nation’s basic interests. Big powers seldom submit to worldwide courts, even in cases involving genocide by armed forces, which explains why none of the affected countries barring the Philippines openly welcomed the verdict or directly called on China to abide by it. They considered it prudent not to provoke China. “It has not, whether in the past or now, and in the future there won’t be a problem as long as nobody plays tricks”, he said, according to a transcript of his comments seen by Reuters on Monday.
China didn’t want any mention of the South China Sea at a summit of Asian and European leaders in Ulaanbataar, the Mongolian capital.
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AUSTRALIA would be unwise to conduct a very provocative freedom of navigation exercise in the South China Sea, an adviser to China’s government says.
