US aircraft carrier, destroyers deployed to disputed South China Sea

US says China deployed surface-to-air missiles in the region, amid mounting tensions over the disputed waters

The United States has sent an aircraft carrier and several escort ships to the South China Sea, in an apparent display of might to China.

The John C. Stennis aircraft carrier, accompanied by two destroyers and two crosiers, arrived in the region earlier this week, VOA News reports.

The deployment comes following reports last week that Beijing is installing radar facilities on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, which analysts warned would "exponentially improve" the country's monitoring capacities.

A week earlier, US officials said China had deployed surface-to-air missiles in the Paracel islands further north, amidst mounting tensions in the strategically vital region.

US Navy Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of the US Pacific Command, told lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that the installation of radars and other equipment was raising the stakes in the region.

"China is clearly militarizing the South China Sea," Harris told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "You'd have to believe in the flat Earth to think otherwise."

Andy Wong (Pool/AFP/File)
""China is clearly militarizing the South China Sea," Admiral Harry Harris, pictured on November 3, 2015, told the Senate Armed Services Committee"

China denies the allegation, saying that the United States' presence is causing tension.

"If you take a look at the matter closely, it's the U.S. sending the most advanced aircraft and military vessels to the South China Sea," a spokeswoman for Beijing's Foreign Ministry said.

Beijing claims almost the whole of the South China Sea -- through which a third of the world's oil passes -- while six other Pacific nations, including Vietnam and the Philippines have competing claims, as does Taiwan.

The United States has in recent months sent warships to sail within 12 nautical miles -- the usual territorial limit around natural land -- of a disputed island and one of China's artificial constructions in what it says is a defence of the right to free passage.

Adrian Leung (AFP)
"Disputed claims in the South China Sea"

Beijing says it defends the right to free passage, and insists its island building has civilian purposes, such as search and rescue facilities, as well as military.

A host of installations with potential military use are being developed, according to CSIS, including as many as three runways -- at least one of them 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) long.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi was heading to Washington on Tuesday for talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, where the issue was expected to be on the agenda.

Kerry told reporters last week: "There is every evidence, every day, that there has been an increase of militarisation of one kind or another. It's of a serious concern."

Jay Directo (AFP/File)
"Activists rally against Beijing's island-building in the South China Sea at the Chinese consulate in Manila on February 5, 2016"

(Source : i24news.tv)

Newer Post Older Post