In a rebuff to China, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on Tuesday said that the US military would sail and fly wherever international law allowed, including the disputed South China Sea.
Carter spoke after a two-day meeting between US and Australian foreign and defense ministers at which the long-time allies agreed to expand defense cooperation and expressed “strong concerns” over Beijing’s building on disputed islands.
“Make no mistake, the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as we do around the world, and the South China Sea will not be an exception,” Carter told a joint news conference.
Photo: AP
“We will do that in the time and places of our choosing,” Carter added.
He had been asked about reports that the US had already decided to conduct freedom-of-navigation operations inside 12 nautical mile (22km) limits that China claims around islands built on reefs in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
The Boston meeting brought together Carter, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Australian Minister of Defense Marise Payne for regular talks between the two countries.
A joint statement said they “expressed strong concerns over recent Chinese land reclamation and construction activity in the South China Sea. It called on “all claimant states to halt land reclamation, construction, and militarization.”
Bishop welcomed a statement by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last month that China did not intend to militarize the islands and said she hoped Beijing would stick to the commitment.
China claims most of the South China Sea and last week its foreign ministry warned that Beijing would not stand for violations of its territorial waters in the name of freedom of navigation.
Some analysts in Washington believe the decision has been taken and the patrols could take place later this week or next.
“You know, doing the 12 nautical mile challenge is one among a variety of options that we’re considering,” a US official said. “We’re waiting for an interagency decision that includes the White House.”
The US says that under international law building up artificial islands on previously submerged reefs does not entitle a country to claim a territorial limit and that it is vital to maintain freedom of navigation in a sea through which more than US$5 trillion of world trade passes every year.
In related developments, Vietnam yesterday slammed China over its construction of two lighthouses in the disputed South China Sea, saying the move violates Vietnam’s sovereignty and escalates tensions.
Chinese state media reported last week that a completion ceremony was held for the lighthouses on Cuateron Reef (Huayang Reef, 華陽礁) in the Spratlys.
The state-run Vietnam News Agency quoted Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Le Hai Binh as saying the construction “seriously violates Vietnam’s sovereignty ... complicates the situation and escalates tensions.”
He said Vietnam has protested China’s actions.
Xinhua news agency says the lighthouses will help improve navigation in the area.
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