- Sputnik International
Asia
Find top stories and features from Asia and the Pacific region. Keep updated on major political stories and analyses from Asia and the Pacific. All you want to know about China, Japan, North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

US Navy to Boost Presence in Disputed South China Sea Region

© AP Photo / Cliff OwenAdm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., US Navy Commander, U.S. Pacific Command walks past a photograph showing an island that China is building on the Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea
Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., US Navy Commander, U.S. Pacific Command walks past a photograph showing an island that China is building on the Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea - Sputnik International
Subscribe
As tensions escalate in the South China Sea, the US plans to increase its freedom-of-navigation (FON) operations through Chinese waters.

Last October, the Pentagon conducted its first FON in the South China Sea, sending the USS Lassen within the 12-mile territorial limit of Beijing’s artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago. The move elicited outrage from Chinese officials.

Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea, west of Palawan - Sputnik International
Asia
China Claps Back at Reports of Sending Fighter Jets to Disputed Islands

In response to Beijing’s deployment of missile systems into the region, the US Navy has stressed that it plans to increase its FON operations.

"We will be doing them more, and we’ll be doing them with greater complexity in the future…and we’ll fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows," Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US Navy’s Pacific Command, told the US House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

"We must continue to operate in the South China Sea to demonstrate that that water space and the air above it is international."

During his address, the admiral also accused China of using the artificial islands to "militarize" the region.

Woody Island, a island in the South China Sea occupied by China and claimed by several other countries, is shown in satellite images taken on February 14, 2016 and February 3, 2016, in this handout image provided by ImageSat International N.V. 2016, on February 18, 2016 - Sputnik International
Asia
Beijing Smacks Down US Criticism Over Missiles in South China Sea

"[China is] clearly militarizing the South China Sea," he said. "You’ve have to believe in a flat Earth to think otherwise."

Beijing has maintained that it has every right to build within what it considers to be its own territory, and that the islands will be used primarily for humanitarian purposes.

While FON operations by patrol ships and surveillance planes have already escalated tensions, Harris indicated that the Pentagon could increase its military presence in the region.

"We could consider putting another (attack) submarine out there, we could put additional  destroyers forward…there are a lot of things we could do, short of putting a full carrier strike group in the Western Pacific," Harris said.

The admiral’s comments come amid an official visit to Washington by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who earlier this week stressed the need for calm.

Military exercises Union Shield 2015 - Sputnik International
Asia
Pentagon Seeks to Deploy Mobile Artillery Near South China Sea

"The South China Sea islands have historically been China’s territory. China has a right to uphold its territorial integrity and lawful, legitimate maritime rights and interests," he said during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"At the same time, we are committed to resolving the disputes through dialogue and negotiation in a peaceful way."

China lays claim to most of the highly disputed region, and there are overlapping claims by Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan. Nearly $5 trillion in trade passes through the South China Sea annually.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала