Tensions between China and the U.S. are heating up as world leaders gather for a security summit in Singapore that starts Friday.
China lashed out at Washington on Thursday, defending its building of artificial islands in the South China Sea. Beijing claims most of the sea as its own territory, accusing U.S. leaders of “provocations and instigations” that threaten regional stability.
“We will never allow any country to violate China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.
She was responding to remarks Wednesday by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, who previewed his summit speech during a ceremony in Hawaii installing Adm. Harry Harris as the new chief of U.S. Pacific Command.
“I want to be clear about our position on the South China Sea,” Carter said. “First, we want a peaceful resolution of all disputes, and an immediate and lasting halt to land reclamation by any claimant. We also oppose any further militarization of disputed features. Second — and there should … be no mistake about this — the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as we do all around the world.”
The Pentagon has been challenging China’s claim with surveillance flights over the disputed islands, going so far as inviting a CNN news crew to film one of the normally classified missions to drive home the point. Carter, who is set to speak Saturday at the summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, will likely receive pushback against the flights from Chinese officials at the summit.
Listen: China tells U.S. aircraft to ‘please go away’
Beijing this week adopted a more aggressive posture with plans to modify its armed forces to project power farther from its borders than ever before. A military white paper released Tuesday calls for a “blue-water” navy capable of operating in the open seas, a more mobile army capable of “trans-theater” operations and an air force geared for both offensive and defensive operations.
But China’s neighbors, along with many in Congress, have been pushing for tougher U.S. action to stop the reclamation project in the disputed Spratly Islands, where Beijing has expanded by 2,000 acres what used to be coral reefs and has begun to fortify them with military equipment.
In response, the U.S. last month signed a new defense agreement with Japan that commits Tokyo to extend its maritime and missile defense capabilities across the region in exchange for a U.S. commitment to defend its administration of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. China also claims those islands. U.S. officials also are working on a deal that would allow a rotational presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines for the first time in more than two decades.
During his visit to Hawaii, Carter also met with Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and released a statement saying that the U.S. commitment to defend the island nation, which also claims the Spratly Islands, is “ironclad.”
Australia also is considering challenging China’s claim with “freedom of navigation” exercises by naval ships and military aircraft, The Age newspaper reported Thursday.
“China’s actions are bringing countries in the region together in new ways. And they’re increasing demand for American engagement in the Asia-Pacific, and we’re going to meet it,” Carter said.
“We will remain the principal security power in the Asia-Pacific for decades to come.”
After the summit, Carter heads to Vietnam to meet with military leaders. Half a century after the beginning of the war between the two nations, Hanoi has drawn closer to Washington due to its concerns about Chinese aggression. Carter will then fly to India, where as the Pentagon’s No. 2 he worked to strengthen industrial ties between the two nations.
