South Africa backed China on Wednesday against the US’ so-called freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, a patrol China has denounced as an illegal threat to peace.
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Beijing must refrain from any fresh provocative actions following an impending global court ruling on claims related to the South China Sea, the United States said on Wednesday.
Official observations of South Africa would come as a boost for China ahead of a decision by the worldwide arbitration tribunal at The Hague that is looking at a case lodged by the Philippines in 2013 contesting Chinese claims.
“We, the United States, do have very clear national interests in the area”, Willett said.
The US Navy chief said on Monday that the deployment was a signal of the US commitment to regional security, adding that he hoped it would deter any attempts to destabilise the region.
The island province of Hainan will operate regular trips to the Spratlys, which China calls the Nansha Islands, in response to increasing demand, the official China Daily newspaper said, citing provincial authorities.
Competing claims to the South China Sea, which covers more than three million square kilometres, have for decades been a source of tension in the region.
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-Ahmad Hanafi Rais, deputy chairman of House of Representatives’ Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, said that the government must prepare a qualified negotiator to settle the dispute with China in connection with the South China Sea.
China has built many military facilities, airfields, and non-military facilities on various artificial islands over the recent months.
Willett reiterated the US view that the ruling must be binding.
The Philippines also has stood up to China’s bullying in the South China Sea, with a small, rickety Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel outsmarting a large Chinese Coast Guard ship to restock a small Marine garrison on the BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the Spratly Islands on March 29, 2014.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), following a foreign ministers meeting in China, issued and then abruptly withdrew a statement that expressed deep concerns over tensions in the South China Sea, a retraction widely seen as the result of Chinese pressure.
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Beijing prefers one-on-one negotiations with each of the rival claimants, an arrangement that gives it advantage because of its sheer size and clout and prevents Washington from playing any role to resolve the conflicts.
