US Condemns China Reclamation in South China Sea

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea is “out of step with international rules” and that the United States opposes “any further militarization” of the disputed lands.

Carter told a high-level security conference in Singapore on Saturday that the U.S. is deeply concerned about the scale of China’s island building and the prospect of further militarization of the artificial islands.

He told defense officials from across the Asia Pacific attending the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum that, although other claimants in the region had set up outposts in the disputed Spratley islands, China had gone much further and faster than any other, reclaiming more than 800 hectares in just 18 months.

A Chinese military delegate to the Forum, Senior Colonel Zhao Xiazhuo of China’s Academy of Military Science, said the remarks were “uncalled for.”

China insists it has sovereignly over nearly all of the resource-rich South China Sea, a major global shipping route.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also claim parts of the sea. [Read More]

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Source: VOA News: War and Conflict


 

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