China’s decision to place an oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea is a provocative act and raises tensions in the region, the White House said on Friday.
“We consider that act provocative and we consider it one that undermines the goal that we share, which is peaceful resolution of these disputes and general stability in the region,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said at his regularly scheduled briefing.
“We’re very concerned about dangerous conduct and intimidation by government-controlled assets operating in this area,” Carney said.
Anti-Chinese violence flared in Vietnam this week after China put an oil rig in a spot claimed by Hanoi.
The move is the latest in a series of confrontations between China and neighbors over small islands in the oil-and-gas-rich body of water, prompting fears that Beijing has adopted a more assertive approach to territorial disputes after seeing Russia annex Crimea.
The White House statement was the most direct US criticism of China since the placement of the oil rig escalated tensions in the region.
During a trip through Asia last month, US President Barack Obama provided reassurances to several countries that while the US wants to see maritime disputes settled through diplomacy, it would live up to its obligation to defend its allies in the region.
“These events highlight the need for the claimants to clarify their claims in accordance with international law and to reach agreement on appropriate behavior and activities in disputed areas,” Carney said.
He added that while the US does not take a position in the disputes, it opposes any efforts to settle them by intimidation or coercion.
The Philippines, one of Washington’s closest allies in Asia, has said China is reclaiming land on a reef that both countries claim, and is building what appears to be an airstrip on it.
It has offered the US the use of an underdeveloped naval base on a nearby island to ensure US warships can enter the vicinity.
Carney said he disagrees with a statement by China’s foreign ministry that it is in fact the US announcement it will pursue a more active role in Asia — the so-called rebalancing — that is stirring tensions by emboldening Vietnam and others to behave more aggressively to territorial standoffs.
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Indonesia and Malaysia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images. The moves reflect growing global concern over generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, while existing safeguards fail to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children. Regulators in the two Southeast Asian
ICE DISPUTE: The Trump administration has sought to paint Good as a ‘domestic terrorist,’ insisting that the agent who fatally shot her was acting in self-defense Thousands of demonstrators chanting the name of the woman killed by a US federal agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, took to the city’s streets on Saturday, amid widespread anger at use of force in the immigration crackdown of US President Donald Trump. Organizers said more than 1,000 events were planned across the US under the slogan “ICE, Out for Good” — referring to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is drawing growing opposition over its execution of Trump’s effort at mass deportations. The slogan is also a reference to Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother shot dead on Wednesday in her
RSS