White House national security adviser Ben Rhodes said on Monday there would be more demonstrations of the USA commitment to freedom of navigation.
Advertisement
A senior Defense Ministry official said that “we have no preparations, no capacity and no intentions” for operations by the SDF in the South China Sea.
China at the time protested the Lassen patrol, calling it a “deliberate provocation”, and sent two warships to shadow the US vessel and issue warnings.
The minister’s comments followed similar expressions of support for Washington’s approach in the Asia-Pacific region-by Australia, the Philippines and South Korea after a U.S. Navy destroyer conducted a patrol of the Spratly Islands, sailing within 12 nautical miles of one Chinese-built island.
“International seas and airspace belong to everyone and are not the dominion of any single nation”, Admiral Harry Harris said at the Stanford Centre at Peking University.
“(Carter) once again reaffirmed that the United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever worldwide law allows. “The president of the ROC on Taiwan Massachusetts Ying-jeou has reasserted the Republic of China’s (ROC) territorial claim to Taiping Island and other islands in the South China Sea, [and] both Chinese authorities staunchly defend their sovereignty over these islands”, Etler said.
“I truly believe that these routine operations should never be construed as a threat to any nation”, Harris said, according to his prepared remarks. “Despite repeated recent statements and multiple requests by the Chinese side, U.S. sent its military ship USS Lassen to the reefs near China’s Nansha Islands thus creating a threat to China’s sovereignty and security, as well as to security of people and infrastructure on the reefs”. They’ve been very public about planning to use the USA military to enforce their maritime claims against China, and the United States has done nothing to dissuade them from this course of action.
The Times is a voice of empire, ignoring worldwide, constitutional and U.S. statute laws, one-sidedly supporting America’s hegemonic aim for unchallenged global dominance – no matter the cost in endless carnage and human suffering.
The overly heated rhetoric from the Chinese military on the South China Sea reflects what analysts say is a carefully orchestrated information warfare operation. Mr. Hishammuddin said Malaysia supported them so long as China and the US work together to ensure there is no risk of further escalation.
The Subi Reef, part of the Spratly Islands being developed by China for military purposes.
Present at the ADMM Retreat were defence ministers from Asean’s 10-member countries, along with representatives from Asean’s eight dialogue partners such as the United States’s defence secretary, China’s defence minister, South Korean defence minister Han Min Koo and Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani.
Advertisement
The four-star admiral is the most outspoken critic of China to head the Pacific Command in years.
