US presses Beijing on non-militarisation of the South China Sea

The White House pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to expand his non-militarisation pledge to cover the entire South China Sea, despite Beijing’s recent military activity in the area.

Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, spoke amid rising tensions between the two countries over China’s deployment of surface-to-air missiles, radar gear, air strips and fighter jets on an islet there.

During a state visit in September, Xi insisted that “China does not intend to pursue militarisation” in the Spratly Island chain.

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The islands are claimed in part or whole by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

“We think it would be good if that non-militarisation pledge, if [Xi] would extend that across the entire South China Sea,” Kritenbrink told a forum at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

“We’re going to encourage our Chinese friends and other countries in the region to refrain from taking steps that raise tensions.”

China claims almost the whole of the area – through which a third of the world’s oil passes – while several other littoral states have competing claims.