China Defends Military Expansion in South China Sea

ValueWalk (U.S.)

27 November 2015

China has defended its military expansion in the South China Sea and denied claims that it’s militarizing the artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, according to USA Today.

The comments come immediately after U.S. President Barack Obama finished his six-day Asian trip, during which he repeatedly criticized Beijing’s military expansion in the disputed region.

Failing to immediately respond to Obama’s comments about China’s military efforts in the South China Sea, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said on Sunday that the U.S. was testing China by sending warships through the area. Liu claimed Beijing’s construction projects on the sea are a “public service” to protect the reefs and islands that China claims its own, while the move of station personnel to the disputed islands is “for the benefit” of other countries using the waters of the South China Sea.

… “President Obama’s attendance at the meetings itself is, to the region, very significant,” Joseph Chinyong Liow, professor of comparative and international politics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told USA Today.

Liow also said that Asia, and particularly Japan, has always been concerned that Washington may find distractions in other parts of the world.

“In the wake of the events of Paris, it was good to see President Obama make the trip, during which he also reiterated the importance of Asia to American policy,” he said.

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Last updated on 01/12/2015