US slams China for raising tension in sea

Student activists burn a mock missile during a protest in front of the Chinese consulate in Manila, Philippines, on Friday. — AFP

The United States accused China on Thursday of raising tensions in the South China Sea by its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island.

US state department spokesman John Kirby said commercial satellite imagery suggested “very recent” placement of missiles on Woody Island in the Paracel island chain that went against China’s pledge not to militarise the South China Sea.

“The Chinese have said one thing, and yet appear to be doing another,” Mr Kirby told a regular news briefing. “We see no indication that ... this militarisation effort, has stopped. And it’s doing nothing ... to make the situation there more stable and more secure. In fact, it’s having quite the opposite effect.”

On Wednesday, US secretary of state John Kerry said the United States would have “very serious” talks with China about militarisation of the South China Sea.

China has offered little specific response to the missile deployment reports, which first appeared on Fox News on Tuesday, but has accused Western media of “hyping up” the story and said China had a legitimate right to military facilities on territory it views as its own.

Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop, the first senior Western official to visit China since the reports appeared, said she raised the issue of the South China Sea’s militarization in talks in Beijing on Thursday.

China in turn on Friday accused the US of militarising the South China Sea.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that patrols by US military aircraft and Navy vessels, along with joint exercises involving regional partners were the true reason why concerns were growing over peace and stability.

“The above actions have escalated tensions in the South China Sea, and that’s the real militarisation of the South China Sea,” Mr Hong said.

The Philippines, which claims waters and features east of Woody island, on Friday said it was “gravely concerned” by reports of the missile deployments.

“Such actions negate China’s earlier commitment not to militarise the South China Sea,” the department of foreign affairs said in a statement.

Vietnam protested to China on Friday at a “serious violation” of its sovereignty over Beijing’s apparent deployment of an advanced missile system, while Australia and New Zealand urged Chinese restraint.

“Vietnam is deeply concerned about the actions by China. These are serious infringements of Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracels, threatening peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and flight,” foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said. “Vietnam demands China immediately stop such erroneous actions.”

Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had urged claimants to refrain from island-building and militarisation in the South China Sea.

“It is absolutely critical that we ensure that there is a lowering of tensions,” said Mr Turnbull, speaking after a meeting in Sydney with New Zealand counterpart John Key.

Australia’s Turnbull said if Chinese President Xi Jinping was serious about avoiding the so-called Thucydides Trap, a foreign policy metaphor inspired by ancient Athens and Sparta in which a rising power causes fear in an established power that escalates toward war, he must resolve disputes through international law.

Mr Key said New Zealand, the first developed country to recognize China as a market economy and to sign a bilateral free trade deal, was leveraging its relationship with China to urge measures to lower tensions.