Washington denounces Beijing military exercises in the South China Sea
Text by: RFI Follow
The Pentagon denounced this Thursday, July 2 the holding of Chinese military exercises around an archipelago disputed in the South China Sea, believing that they will "destabilize even more" the situation in the region.
Publicity
Read moreAmericans are joining their voices in Vietnam and the Philippines. Hanoi and Manila criticized Chinese military exercises around the Paracel archipelago in the South China Sea this Thursday. Announced last week by Beijing, these exercises started on Wednesday and last until Sunday. Paracels are islands off China and Vietnam, claimed by these two countries and by Taiwan. They have been controlled for over 40 years by Beijing, which has militarized them by installing missiles in particular.
" The defense ministry is concerned about China's decision to conduct military exercises around the Paracel archipelago ," the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday. These activities "will further destabilize the situation, " especially since they " violate the commitments made by China in the Declaration on the conduct of the parties in the South China Sea of 2002, " said Washington.
Violation of sovereignty
The text, signed by the ASEAN countries, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, provided that all parties " would avoid activities that might complicate or aggravate disputes and threaten peace and security "Notes the US military. It is only, she continues, " the latest in a long series of actions by China to assert illegal maritime claims and disadvantage its Asian neighbors in the South China Sea ."
Earlier this Thursday, reports the South China Morning Post, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana called the Chinese exercises " highly provocative ." The Vietnamese foreign ministry had denounced them as a violation of sovereignty " prejudicial " to Beijing's relations with ASEAN, of which Hanoi currently holds the rotating presidency.
U.S. to continue monitoring China in area
In contrast, Washington says it wants only a " free and open Indo-Pacific region, where all countries, big and small, are safe and sovereign, free from coercion and can develop their economy in accordance with international rules and standards. " The Pentagon, which calls on " all parties to exercise restraint ", has warned that it "will continue to monitor " Chinese military activities in the region.
The US Navy regularly patrols near the Paracels and the Spratleys archipelago, further south. Operations called " freedom of navigation " intended to affirm the free passage in these international waters where circulates the fifth of the world maritime trade. American operations carried out to the chagrin of China, which regularly protests .
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, rich in raw materials and energy resources, which Washington and other countries in the region dispute. The United States accuses China of militarizing the South China Sea to dominate the region.
(With agencies)
► Listen: The South China Sea and Donald Trump
Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribeFollow all international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR- China
- United States
- Vietnam
On the same subject
Frequency Asia
The South China Sea and Donald Trump
China
Anger of Beijing after the maneuver of a US destroyer in the China Sea
Philippines / China
South China Sea: Filipino fishermen harassed by the Chinese?