China denies island building militarizes South China Sea

In a rebuff to China, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday the United States military would sail and fly wherever global law allowed, including the disputed South China Sea.

“And we need to be sure that commerce can proceed unimpeded, and it is why we’ve got inspired people who do have territorial claims within the South China Sea to resolve their variations”, Earnest stated.

Welcoming the rise of China, the White House has said that the new status for the Communist giant comes with important responsibilities like upholding an worldwide order that benefits big countries.

“China’s naval and air capacities must prepare, watch for USA military provocations and respond accordingly with countermeasures”, the editorial added.

The so-called freedom of navigation exercise could see United States and Chinese naval vessels operating inside Chinese-claimed waters within 1000 metres of each other.

In this regard, it said, they reiterated the importance of an expeditious conclusion on a Code of Conduct and full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration of the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

China denies it’s militarised the South China Sea, saying building work is mainly for civilian purposes, and has warned that Beijing wouldn’t stand in the name of liberty of navigation for breaches of its own territorial waters.

Along with claiming nearly all of the South China Sea’s island groups and crucial sea lanes, China is dueling with Japan over ownership of an uninhabited chain of islands north of Taiwan, and in late 2013 declared an air defense zone that would theoretically give it control of aviation over much of the East China Sea.

Thirdly, it is a fallacy for Washington to claim that such step is created to prevent the militarization of the South China Sea while China has already pledged that it has no intention to pursue militarization of the newly reclaimed islands.

Senior officials in Washington have signalled that the United States military could sail close by the islands in the coming days or weeks to demonstrate that Washington does not recognise a Chinese claim to territorial waters around them.

“On that issue, we’re not taking sides,” Robb added.

Further, the USA says, China should not be operating on disputed islands until those disputes have been resolved.

Beijing insists it has sovereign rights to almost all of the South China Sea, even waters close to the coasts of other states. China, however, could plausibly claim that the radar is a defensive asset only – and thus deny claims that it is going back on Xi’s promise not the militarize the islands.

Washington should also be clear-eyed to the fact that a few claimants in the region, such as the Philippines, a USA ally, will be encouraged by the US move to take more provocative steps to challenge China and destabilize the region.

The Spratly Islands are small and mostly uninhabited. This is at least what a high-ranking USA official recently announced.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the comments after USA and Australian Defense and Foreign Ministers expressed concern during their annual meeting.