China accuses United States commander of using smears to seek funds from Congress

“If China continues to arm all of the bases they have reclaimed in the South China Sea, they will change the operational landscape in the region”, Harris said yesterday.

“The United States is the real promoter of the militarization of the South China Sea”, defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a regular monthly news briefing.

“It is China’s legitimate right to deploy defense facilities within our own territory, no matter in the past or at present, no matter temporarily or permanently, no matter what equipment it is”, Wu said.

As Asean foreign ministers gather in the Lao capital to discuss the challenges ahead, the never-ending dispute over the South China Sea is troubling them more than ever.

The White House on Friday urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to extend his pledge not to militarize the disputed Spratly Islands to encompass all of the South China Sea.

The arrival of the military aircraft happened just days after China deployed its surface-to-air missiles on the island earlier this month.

China claims the majority of the South China Sea as its own, and its territorial claims overlap with those of Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

“We must continue to operate in the South China Sea to demonstrate that water space and the air above it is worldwide”.

Harris said he was concerned about the possibility that China might declare an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea, but the USA side would ignore such a designation.

China is on its way to securing “de facto” control of the South China Sea, a top U.S. admiral warned on Thursday, amid growing unease over Beijing’s continued military build up in the contested waterway.

However, Wang and Kerry both stressed the importance of cooperation between the United States and China, and expressed hope of reaching agreement soon on a UN Security Council resolution that is expected to stiffen worldwide sanctions against North Korea. “I think, though, that our carriers are resilient and we have the capability to do what has to be done if it comes to that”. CSIS analysts said several 65-foot poles have been appeared on satellite imagery as part of what they believe is a high-frequency radar installation.

Massive land reclamation by China in the Spratlys and its other recent actions have caused concern among countries in the region and in the United States.

“Well, you’d have to ask China why they’re not stopping”, Harris responded. He called for more freedom of navigation operations and possibly boosting the US military posture in the region.

“The general situation there is stable; no commercial vessel has complained that its freedom of navigation has been jeopardized”, said Wang, assuring the audience that China’s build-up in the area is not an attempt to limit the freedom of navigation of worldwide vessels.

“We know that a strong Australia is essential to enable us to play our part in providing the measured balance upon which regional security depends”, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.