A spokesman for China’s Defense Ministry voiced China’s concern on Thursday over the US activities to ‘militarize the South China Sea’ by increasing its military presence in the region.
“For a long time, the US side has been sending ships and planes to conduct frequent close-in reconnaissance activities against China in the South China Sea region”, said Senior Colonel Yang Yujun.
The US conducted a seven-hour surveillance flight over the region on July 18, joined by Adm. Scott Swift, the new U.S. commander of the Pacific Fleet.
The spokesman said that Swift’s actions had put the region’s stability at risk.
The colonel asked, "Does the US want nothing but chaos in the region?"
The Pacific Fleet commander was joined by another high-ranking US military personnel in irking China over China’s actions in the South China Sea.
Admiral Harry B. Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, recently accused China of disrupting the status quo of the region through its land reclamation activities and harming the regional maritime environment.
Colonel Yang Yujun denounced the comment as “irresponsible”, saying that the aim of the construction work is to “help promote the safety of navigation in this area” and the work “meets very strict environment protection standards and requirements”.
“The relevant people in the US should be prudent and cautious in their remarks and actions”, the spokesman added.
In response, the US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner has called on all parties in South China Sea to manage and resolve their disputes peacefully.
Toner said that since the end of World War II, the U.S. has played a "critical role" in supporting the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific, which has been instrumental in the region's "remarkable growth," according to the AP.
