China deploys fighter jets to contested South China Sea island

The comments, which come as Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visits the United States, follow remarks on Tuesday by Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command, that China was “clearly militarising” the South China Sea.

He said militarization was not the responsibility of one party alone and added in apparent reference to USA patrols: “We don’t hope to see any more close-up military reconnaissance, or the dispatch of missile destroyers or strategic bombers to the South China Sea”.

The recent US hype about alleged Chinese military maneuvers in South China Sea, however sensational, will not hide the fact that Washington is now the top contributor of tension in the region.

Kerry and Wang are expected to discuss Tuesday how to reach a compromise over a U.N. Security Council resolution against the North Korea, and also the mounting differences over the South China Sea – issues that have put a growing strain on efforts to forge a cooperative relationship. Five other governments also hold maritime claims that overlap with Beijing’s, and the US has said it is concerned about China’s militarization of the area. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.

The federal government has declined to back a call by Tony Abbott to conduct a freedom-of-navigation exercise in the disputed South China Sea.

Last October, the Pentagon conducted its first FON in the South China Sea, sending the USS Lassen within the 12-mile territorial limit of Beijing’s artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago.

New satellite imagery also shows that the Chinese spent the latter half of 2015 constructing radar towers to eliminate any stealth capabilities possessed by USA aircraft, such as the F-22 and the F-35.

A high frequency radar on Cuarteron Reef would increase China’s ability to monitor sea and air traffic coming north from the Malacca Straits and other important channels, the report said.

Its goal is clear: to lay claim to 90% of the South China Sea, a vital commercial waterway that carries $5 trillion in annual trade.

China subsequently accused the U.S. of militarizing the region, saying patrols by U.S. Navy vessels and military aircraft had escalated tensions and raised concerns about stability in the area.

Over the weekend, US President Barack Obama stated that his administration would continue to challenge Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

China has essentially said, “Yeah, those islands are ours”, not just in the China Sea but seemingly anywhere near the mainland (or not).

A peaceful Asia-Pacific had led to economic growth and prosperity, he said.

Kerry also hailed the “significant progress” made on the resolution, adding that “it will go beyond anything that we have previously passed”. China is today on the cusp of becoming a serious regional military power and this transition appears all the more menacing because of its aggressive posturing in the East and South China Seas, challenging the freedom of navigation in these waters and open access to the global commons. Darryn James, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command, told the Wall Street Journal that the deployment of fighter jets to Woody Island “is not a surprise”, and military development there “has been going on for the last few years”.