THE US says China’s recent test of a newly completed runway on one of seven islands Beijing has constructed in the disputed South China Sea raises tensions and threatens regional stability.
State Department spokesman John Kirby reiterated Monday a US call for a halt to land reclamation and militarization of outposts in those waters, where China and five other Asian governments have competing territorial claims.
“We are concerned by China’s decision to land its aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea,” Kirby said.
“To begin flight operations at this new airfield in a disputed area raises tensions and threatens regional stability,” he said.
“We again call for all claimants to halt land reclamation, further development of new facilities, and the militarization on their outposts, and instead focus on reaching agreement on acceptable behavior in disputed areas. We have made this case clear repeatedly, and we will continue to make it,” Kirby added.
Vietnam last week protested China’s decision to land an aircraft at Fiery Cross Reef, saying it violated Hanoi’s sovereignty, and demanded that China stop such actions. China rejected Hanoi’s protest.
On Monday, the Philippines joined Vietnam in criticizing China’s move, and said it was also considering a formal protest.
Senator John McCain on Monday criticized the White House for delaying any future “freedom of navigation” patrols near artificial islands that China has built in the disputed South China Sea.
McCain, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, said China was continuing to “pursue its territorial ambitions” in the region, including by landing a plane on a man-made island in the Spratly Islands on Jan. 2.
In a statement, the senator from Arizona said the US military’s failure to conduct additional patrols last year was “disappointing yet hardly surprising.”
He said the Obama administration was “either unable to manage the complexities of interagency national security decision making or simply too risk averse to do what is necessary to safeguard the rules-based order in the Asia-Pacific.”
In October, the Pentagon began conducting patrols within 12 nautical miles of the man-made islands.
McCain’s complaints come after Chinese foreign ministry officials confirmed on Saturday that a test flight by a civilian plane landed on one of the islands, the first time Beijing has used a runway in the area, Reuters reported.
The landing was not a surprise, as China has been building runways on the artificial islands for over a year.
Washington suspects that the islands may be used as military outposts, while Beijing insists that they will serve primarily a humanitarian purpose.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which trillion dollars in trade passes annually. However, there are overlapping claims from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
