China claims almost all of the South China Sea, causing friction with ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, who all have competing claims, together with Taiwan.
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On Saturday, China vowed to continue building on the disputed reefs and said construction had finished on two lighthouses in areas claimed by smaller rivals.
“We need to remind ourselves that U.S. Navy … has been conducting freedom of navigation operations since Jimmy Carter was in office”, said Craig Allen, a professor of marine and environmental affairs at the University of Washington School of Law. “We welcome that rise of China”.
China has always been, in a constructive and effective manner, a firm upholder of the freedom of navigation as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.
China commented on Carter’s words on Wednesday by saying that what U.S. calls militarization of South China Sea was due to “certain countries… flexing military muscles” there.
China claims more than 80 percent of the waters, based on a so-called nine-dash line in a 1940s map.
The United States and its Pacific ally Australia have warned China that they remain committed to freedom of navigation in the waters of the South China Sea.
As it seeks to engage more with countries party to the South China Sea disputes, India has not shied away from using its own maritime dispute with Bangladesh, which it successfully resolved through worldwide arbitration, as an example worth following in the region.
“The United States navy is a global navy, and it should not be a surprise to anybody, that we will exercise freedom of navigation through wherever worldwide law will allow”, John Richardson, the USA chief of naval operations, told reporters in Tokyo.
Fan Changlong, one of the vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission that controls the Chinese armed forces, said Beijing was keen on avoiding conflict, Reuters reported.
Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan told his counterparts from all 10 members of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the start of an informal summit in Beijing that all parties needed to push for the “correct” development of ties.
Addressing the question of China’s rising assertiveness in the region, Hun said that the country has been strengthening its military forces “in order to ensure its sovereignty and integrity”.
Following Fan’s remarks, Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, whose country is a claimant in the South China Sea, said the “statement was reassuring to us all”, but cautioned that the best way to address concerns was the establishment of a code of conduct for claimants in the region.
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So USA warships should chart their course carefully. Under President Xi Jinping, China has been dredging and dumping tons of sand to turn reefs into islands and has put in a runway that may be capable of landing military aircraft.
