Carter And Dunford Testify On ISIL Before Senate Armed Services Committee (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese academics cite old handwritten books that generations of Chinese fishermen use as proof of the country’s ownership of disputed islands in South China Sea.
However, the United States clearly took the side of its ally, the Philippines, when U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned on Tuesday, at a security summit in Singapore, that it would use military action against China over the islands in the West Philippine Sea, reported Manilalivewire.
But he also said, “I hope that this development doesn’t occur because it will result in actions being taken by others in the region that will have the effect of not only increasing tensions by isolating China.” Carter was asked about a report by the South China Morning Post that China plans to set up an outpost on Scarborough Shoal.
The Chinese coast guard, however, has scaled back on their interception of Filipino fishermen in disputed waters near the shoal, seen as a friendly gesture to incoming Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte who plans to dialogue with Beijing over the dispute. Beijing has also taken a cautious approach to the shoal after the Pentagon warned of action is China makes further reclamation in the disputed territories.
Andrei Chang, founder of Kanwa Asian Defence, a military magazine, pointed out that the shoal is so different from other reefs in the Spratly chain because of its proximity to the U.S. military bases in the Philippines which opened in 2016 eight of its military bases to American forces. Two of these air bases are in Pampanga Province, just 330 kilometers from the shoal.
Rear Admiral Guan Youfei, an official at China’s Office of International Military Cooperation, hit Carter’s remarks, accusing Washington of reflecting a “Cold War mentality.” He added any sanctions against China would fail.
