Admiral’s warning for foreign navies
Print Edition
FREEDOM of navigation patrols carried out by foreign navies in the South China Sea could end “in disaster,” a senior Chinese admiral has said, a warning to the United States.
China has refused to recognize a ruling over China’s claim in South China Sea by an arbitration court in The Hague and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines.
China has repeatedly blamed the US for stirring up trouble in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which more than US$5 trillion of trade moves annually.
The US has conducted so-called “freedom of navigation” patrols close to Chinese islands, to Beijing’s anger, while China has been bolstering its military presence there.
Speaking behind closed doors at a forum in Beijing on Saturday, Sun Jianguo, an admiral and deputy chief of the joint staff department of the Central Military Commission, said the freedom of navigation issue was a bogus one that certain countries repeatedly hyped up.
“When has freedom of navigation in the South China Sea ever been affected? It has not, whether in the past or now, and in the future there won’t be a problem as long as nobody plays tricks,” he said.
China is the biggest beneficiary of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and won’t let anybody damage it, Sun said.
“But China consistently opposes so-called military freedom of navigation which brings with it a military threat, and which challenges and disrespects the international law of the sea,” Sun said.
“This kind of military freedom of navigation is damaging to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, and it could even play out in a disastrous way,” he added, without elaborating.
He said the court case at The Hague must be used by China’s armed forces to improve its capabilities “so that when push comes to shove, the military can play a decisive role in the last moment to defend our national sovereignty and interests.”
Despite the warnings, China and the US have been maintaining open lines of communication (see “Navy chief” on A3), with US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson meeting the head of the Chinese navy Admiral Wu Shengli in Beijing.
“I think that you can visit China this time at our invitation, that shows both sides attach great concern to maritime security,” Wu told Richardson in brief comments in front of reporters.
Separately, China’s Maritime Safety Administration said yesterday that an area just off the east of the island province of Hainan would be a no-sail zone from today to Thursday while military drills take place.
China describes its exercises in the South China Sea as routine.
China’s air force also said on its microblog it had recently carried out “normal battle patrols” over the South China Sea involving bombers, spy planes and flying tankers, including over the Huangyan Islands.
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