Tag: South China Sea

As the United States takes the lead in challenging China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, the Chinese government has begun to warn off Japan from assuming a role in the matter. While Japan has no territorial interests in the South China Sea, it continues to disregard China’s claim to the entirety of the East China Sea, much of which Japan claims as its own.

After stating last week that, despite Chinese objections, American naval ships will “fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter personally made good on that promise by joining the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the South China Sea today.

The Obama administration authorized the U.S. Navy to conduct “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea.

An American defense official said this week that the U.S. Navy is planning to navigate through disputed waters in the South China Sea “about twice a quarter or a little more than that,” activity likely to irritate China, which claims complete control over the sea, even further.

The Australian Navy will reportedly proceed with an anticipated training exercise with Chinese ships next week, despite escalating military tensions between the United States and China in the South China Sea.

The heads of the Chinese and American navies discussed the United States’ passing of a missile destroyer through international waters in the South China Sea on Thursday, according to American officials.

Chinese state media outlet Xinhua has published an editorial threatening the Chinese government is open to “use of force” against the United States should it continue to establish a military presence in the South China Sea.

The Chinese government is strongly condemning the presence of a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Lassen, in the South China Sea, as an “illegal entry.” American defense officials insist the ship navigated international waters, challenging China’s unilateral claims to sovereignty over the nearby Spratly Islands.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a diplomatic visit to London, has reiterated to Reuters his nation’s claim that the entirety of the South China Sea belongs to China, asserting that the islands in that region were “left to us by our ancestors” and cannot be shared with neighboring countries.

Vietnam is accusing a Chinese vessel of attacking and sinking a fishing boat near the disputed Paracel Islands, days after the Chinese government insisted that territories in the South China Sea were not international waters, but belonged to China.

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The Chinese government is warning the United States and its allies to stop “adding fuel to the flames” in the longstanding territorial dispute in the South China Sea, following a joint announcement by America and Australia that the nations fully intend to exercise their right to navigate the body of water, which China claims entirely for itself.

Chinese state media is working hard to portray President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States as a success, but even in a column intending to herald bilateral talks as a step in the right direction, Xinhua asserts that it is the United States which is prompting states to be “aggressive” in the South China Sea.

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China’s state-run news service, Xinhua, lays it on pretty thick in an editorial titled “Xi’s Epic Bid for Better U.S. Ties Bolsters Asian Peace, Prosperity.”

The U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) chief and the assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs expressed concern about China’s declining influence over volatile and nuclear-armed North Korea.

Contents: China continues rapid military deployment in South China Sea; Japan and Vietnam boost military ties to counter China

A Chinese commander, sitting alongside a fellow military leader from the United States and another one from Japan, defiantly said China owns the South China Sea at a conference in London.

Experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies warn satellite evidence shows the Chinese military is developing a new airstrip in the South China Sea, one that could allow for “more or less constant” surveillance of the internationally disputed waters.

China is consolidating its newfound authority over the international South China Sea by declaring it controls international waters off the coast of independent Vietnam.

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The Japanese Defense Ministry has requested its largest budget ever, a 2.2 percent raise following three years of steady increases, driven by concerns over Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.