US navy commander insists South China Sea is not a battle between superpowers while Beijing warns Washington not to ‘make a fuss’
China’s South China Sea military deployments are no different from US deployments on Hawaii, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday, striking a combative tone ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the United States this week.
The commander of the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said on Monday that he is wary of the situation in the South China Sea being painted as a battle between the United States and China, but added the presence of a Chinese missile system on a disputed island will not stop the US military from flying over the region.
US Navy Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin’s comments come a week after it was revealed that Beijing had deployed surface-to-air missiles on an island in the fiercely contested region. The US said the presence of missiles provided increasing evidence of militarisation of the area by China.
The US is not involved in the South China Sea dispute, and this is not and should not become a problem between China and the United States
Aucoin, whose Japan-based fleet covers a region from India to the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean, said the US is not making such manoeuvres to single out any country, and wants all nations that are reclaiming land to stop.
“I wish it wasn’t portrayed as US versus China,” Aucoin told reporters in Sydney, one of his stops on a visit to Australia to meet with defence officials. “This shouldn’t seem provocative. What we’re trying to ensure is that all countries, no matter size or strength, can pursue their interests based on the law of the sea and not have that endangered by some of these actions.”
China has accused the US of militarising the region, saying patrols by US Navy vessels and military aircraft had escalated tensions and raised concerns about stability in the area.
China’s South China Sea military deployments are no different from US deployments on Hawaii, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday, striking a combative tone ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the United States this week.
Asked whether the South China Sea, and the missiles, would come up when Wang is in the United States to meet Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Washington should not use the issue of military facilities on the islands as a “pretext to make a fuss”.