World | Fri Mar 18, 2016 11:16am EDT
Related: World, China, South China Sea
Exclusive: U.S. sees new Chinese activity around South China Sea shoal
WASHINGTON | By David Brunnstrom and Andrea Shalal
Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. Reuters/U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters
The United States has seen Chinese activity around a reef China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago that could be a precursor to more land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. Navy chief said on Thursday.
The head of U.S. naval operations, Admiral John Richardson, expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could be a trigger for Beijing to declare an exclusion zone in the busy trade route.
Richardson told Reuters the United States was weighing responses to such a move.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
Richardson said the U.S. military had seen Chinese activity around Scarborough Shoal in the northern part of the Spratly archipelago, about 125 miles (200 km) west of the Philippine base of Subic Bay.
"I think we see some surface ship activity and those sorts of things, survey type of activity, going on. That's an area of concern ... a next possible area of reclamation," he said.
Richardson said it was unclear if the activity near the reef, which China seized in 2012, was related to the pending arbitration decision.
Asked about Richardson's statement, Lu Kang, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it was hypocritical for the United States to criticize China for militarizing the region when it carries out its own naval patrols there.
"This is really laughable and preposterous," he said.
The Philippine foreign ministry said it had yet to receive a report about Chinese activity in Scarborough Shoal.
A Philippine military official who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media said he was unaware of a Chinese survey ship in the area.
"China already has de facto control over the shoal since 2012 and they always have two to three coastguard ships there. We are also monitoring their activities and movements," the official told reporters.
Richardson said China's pursuit of South China Sea territory, which has included massive land reclamation to create artificial islands elsewhere in the Spratlys, threatened to reverse decades of open access and introduce new "rules" that required countries to obtain permission before transiting those waters.
He said that was a worry given that 30 percent of the world's trade passes through the region.
Asked whether China could respond to the ruling by the court of arbitration in The Hague by declaring an air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did to the north, in the East China Sea, in 2013, Richardson said: "It's definitely a concern.
"We will just have to see what happens," he said. "We think about contingencies and ... responses."
Richardson said the United States planned to continue carrying out freedom-of-navigation exercises within 12 nautical miles of disputed South China Sea geographical features to underscore its concerns about keeping sea lanes open.
JOINT PATROLS?
The United States responded to the East China Sea ADIZ by flying B-52 bombers through the zone in a show of force in November 2013.
Richardson said he was struck by how China's increasing militarization of the South China Sea had increased the willingness of other countries in the region to work together.
India and Japan have joined the U.S. Navy in the Malabar naval exercise since 2014, and were due to take part again this year in an even more complex exercise that will take place in an area close to the East and South China Seas.
South Korea, Japan and the United States were also working together more closely than ever before, he said.
Richardson said the United States would welcome the participation of other countries in joint patrols in the South China Sea, but those decisions needed to be made by the countries in question.
He said the U.S. military saw good opportunities to build and rebuild relationships with countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines and India, which have all realized the importance of safeguarding the freedom of the seas.
He cited India's recent hosting of an international fleet review that included 75 ships from 50 navies, and said the United States was exploring opportunities to increase its use of ports in the Philippines and Vietnam, among others - including the former U.S. naval base at Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay.
But he said Washington needed to proceed judiciously rather than charging in "very fast and very heavy," given the enormous influence and importance of the Chinese economy in the region.
"We have to be sophisticated in how we approach this so that we don't force any of our partners into an uncomfortable position where they have to make tradeoffs that are not in their best interest," he said.
"We would hope to have an approach that would ... include us a primary partner but not necessarily to the exclusion of other partners in the region."
(Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila and Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing; Editing by Peter Cooney and Nick Macfie)
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China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
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Bè lũ chó má phản quốc CƯỚP NƯỚC DIỆT CHỦNG BÁN NƯỚC việt cộng trước sau cũng chỉ làm trò hề cho cái gọi là "lên tiếng xác định chủ quyền biển đảo của Việt Nam ...", "phản đối" bọn tàu cộng ... chỉ là những lời nói vô thưởng vô phạt để mỵ dân rằng thì là chúng nó cũng biết "bảo vệ đất nước" nhưng thực chất lũ chó má việt cộng chỉ biết bảo vệ cái đảng khốn kiếp việt cộng của chúng nó và quyền lực ĐỘC trị trên đầu dân Việt của những thằng thái thú BÁN NƯỚC cầu vinh .
Hãy xem xét lại "lịch sử" BÁN NƯỚC của bè lũ chó má việt cộng đã thừa nhận Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa thuộc chủ quyền của tàu cộng như thế nào để THẤY RÕ dã tâm của lũ thú vật BÁN NƯỚC cầu vinh việt cộng này .
Nếu lũ súc sinh việt cộng thực tâm bảo vệ đất nước, tại sao chúng nó tù đày, đánh đập sát hại những người dân yêu nước lên tiếng chống bọn "giặc tàu xâm lược" ???
Cái trò hề thô bỉ, mất dạy hèn hạ của bè lũ chó má việt cộng chỉ LỪA BỊP được những kẻ ngây thơ đến độ đần độn sau hơn 40 năm chúng nó CƯỚP toàn cõi đất nước Việt Nam và BÁN NƯỚC Việt Nam cho tàu cộng với những văn tự, cụ thể là công hàm BÁN NƯỚC ngày 14-9-1958 BÁN trọn lãnh hải của Việt Nam cho tàu, cho đến ngày nay vẫn còn nghe và tin những thằng chó má BÁN NƯỚC cầu vinh việt cộng này thì hết thuốc chữa, khi đất nước càng ngày càng què cụt, bị NHIỄM ĐỘC từ trong ra ngoài, từ trên xuống dưới; gái Việt phải bán thân làm đĩ khắp thế giới, trai Việt phải tự nguyện đi làm lao nô khắp năm châu, thậm chí cả những nước nghèo nàn lạc hậu nhất thế giới .
Bè lũ chó má việt cộng không biết NHỤC thì đã, nếu Dân Việt vẫn không BIẾT NHỤC tiếp tục cúi đầu để bè lũ chó má việt cộng tiếp tục ĐỘC trị, chà đạp thì coi như "hài lòng" sống kiếp NÔ LỆ dưới cái nhìn của thế giới vậy .
Những người dân còn tâm huyết với đất nước, thiển nghĩ đã nhận thức ra ngày nào bè lũ chó má việt cộng còn ngồi trên đầu dân Việt không thể chống giặc ngoại xâm tàu cộng, không thể thoát kiếp nô lệ .
Vì vậy,
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Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
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Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là ĐỒNG LÕA với TỘI ÁC
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