- US has again warned China against militarization of the West Philippine Sea
- A top Pentagon official said China’s actions could face ‘specific consequences’
- Defense Secretary Ash Carter also revealed the trilateral agreement to counter China’s aggressive moves in the region
US Defense Sec. Ash Carter
In yet another strongly-worded statement, a United States top Pentagon official has warned China of ‘specific consequences’ against militarization of West Philippine Sea/South China Sea.
During a recent speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said China should stop pursuing the militarization of the disputed territory where neighbors Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines have overlapping claims
“Specific actions will have specific consequences. These activities have the potential to increase the risk of miscalculation or conflict among claimant states,” the Pentagon chief stressed.
Carter’s remark follows report of China’s deployment of fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles to Woody Island off the coast of Vietnam over the past few weeks.
Just recently, Filipino fishermen claimed they were prevented by Chinese patrol boats from entering the Jackson Atoll (Quirino Atoll); a feature that is historically a traditional fishing ground for locals and is part of the Palawan province.
When asked to elaborate on the ‘consequences’ China might face, Carter explained that the US military has set $ 425-million to be spent for military operations with allied nations in the Asia-Pacific Region over the next four years.
He also disclosed that $ 8-billion more will be spent to boost the US’ already powerful fleet of submarines and underwater drones in 2017, even as he vowed that “more and increasingly complex exercises” will be conducted in the region in the very near future.
Carter also noted that China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea has triggered a trilateral agreement which would have been ‘unthinkable’ a few years back.
“There is no question that there are consequences for these actions. We have plans in all three of these categories. You’ll see them unfolding,” Carter declared.
China, which has repeatedly dismissed the US rhetorics about the South China Sea conflict, has yet to make a statement regarding its rival’s latest pronouncement.
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