Upon its arrival on Monday, the USS Benfold held a signals exercise with the Chinese navy.
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The USS Benfold’s commanding officer, Commander Justin L. Harts, said the visit is aimed at “building relationships”.
The visit of the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Benfold to the northern Chinese port of Qingdao this week is the latest development in a long-term effort to build trust between the countries’ militaries amid tensions and a rivalry for dominance in Asia.
Ramos was Philippines president from 1992 to 1998, when China occupied the submerged Mischief Reef.
Located in the East China Sea, about 150 km northeast of Taiwan, the uninhabited Senkaku islands have a total surface area of about 7 sq.km and are reportedly rich in marine and energy resources.
At the same time, South Korea’s presidential Blue House rebuked China for criticizing Seoul’s decision to deploy an advanced USA anti-missile defense system, urging Beijing to instead work harder to rein in North Korean nuclear and missile tests.
China was incensed by the ruling and declared it null and void. It has reportedly built military installations on reclaimed islands, including runways and missile launchers.
In July, China rejected an global tribunal ruling that its claims have no rights in the South China Sea, raising tensions with neighbours who have competing claims in the area. The PCA’s ruling in the case filed by the Philippines has been hailed as a “sweeping victory” against China.
The court also ruled that China’s construction and occupation on Mischief Reef are illegal.
New satellite photos show work proceeding on what seem to be two-dozen hardened concrete airplane hangars on the islands suitable for housing Chinese air force planes, including strategic bombers and inflight refuelers.
Despite China’s claim that it are not militarizing the disputed South China Sea following the arbitral tribunal’s decision in favor of the Philippines, rapid construction of hangars in the Spratly Islands indicate that it is ready to deploy military aircraft to these outposts.
In response to a request from Reuters for comment on the images, China’s Defense Ministry said that “China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly islands and nearby waters”.
In an editorial, the Global Times said India should “avoid unnecessary entanglement” with China over the dispute of South China Sea during the upcoming visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Poling added, “They’re reinforced to take a strike”. “And you have to look at it as an extension of an arc”, Swift said. “So this is militarization”, he said.
“I told him that.it is natural that Chinese ships conduct activity in the waters in question”, he told reporters.
Japan has warned China that ties were “deteriorating markedly” over a group of disputed islets in the East China Sea, and China’s envoy in Tokyo reiterated Beijing’s stance that the specks of land were its territory and called for talks to resolve the row.
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