The US Navy’s top admiral is making a three-day visit to China and meeting with his Chinese counterpart at a time when Beijing has rejected an international tribunal’s ruling that invalidated its expansive claims in the South China Sea.
US Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson is to meet the commander of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, Admiral Wu Shengli (吳勝利), during a trip to Beijing and the port city of Qingdao starting tomorrow.
Richardson is scheduled to visit the Chinese navy’s headquarters in Beijing and meet with other senior defense officials. He is also to visit the navy’s submarine academy and tour the aircraft carrier Liaoning when he is in its home port of Qingdao.
Richardson and Wu are to discuss the South China Sea, the ongoing Rim of the Pacific Exercise, or RIMPAC, military drills and ways to boost interactions between the two militaries.
The visit comes as China has warned other countries against threatening its security in the South China Sea after a five-member tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that China had no legal basis for its claim to most of the South China Sea.
Beijing has responded to the ruling by asserting that the islands in the South China Sea are “China’s inherent territory.”
Taiwan also claims the islands.
Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Zhenmin (劉振民) on Wednesday said that Beijing could declare an air defense identification zone over the waters if it felt threatened.
China’s island development in the South China Sea has inflamed regional tensions, including with nations that have competing claims to the land formations. Most fear that Beijing, which has built airfields and placed weapons systems on the islands, will use construction work to extend its military reach and perhaps try to restrict navigation.
Several times in the past year, US warships have deliberately sailed close to one of those islands to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge the claims.
In response, China has deployed fighter jets and ships to track and warn off US ships and accused Washington of provocative action.
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