July 12 (Bloomberg) -- China’s army chief said the timing of U.S. naval exercises in the South China Sea was “inappropriate” given the ongoing bilateral disagreements in the region between China and other Asian nations.
Disputes over the sea’s islands and surrounding waters should be resolved through “dialogue and diplomatic measures,” Chen Bingde, chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army, was cited as saying by the official Xinhua News agency.
China asserts jurisdiction over most of the South China Sea, including oil and gas blocks more than 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) from its shores. The Philippines and Vietnam have in recent months accused China of incursions into sensitive areas. China has responded by accusing them of provocative acts.
Vietnam has announced joint naval exercises with the U.S. later this month, a few weeks after the Philippines completed similar drills with U.S. warships. The activities sent “mixed signals” to China, Xinhua cited Chen as saying.
China and the U.S., the world’s two biggest economies, have pushed to strengthen military ties that have been strained on several occasions because of issues including a 2010 U.S. decision to sell arms to Taiwan and naval confrontations in 2009.
While some progress in improving military ties had been made, there were a number of challenges, Cheng said at a joint press conference yesterday in Beijing with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
‘Absolutely Vital’
“Some existing issues have yet to be properly addressed and solved, and we are also having some new issues too,” Cheng said.
Military ties with China are “absolutely vital,” Mullen said in Beijing July 10, at the start of the visit that ends tomorrow. The U.S. has urged China to be more transparent about its military expansion and modernization plans.
Cheng yesterday confirmed China is developing a ballistic missile with a maximum range of 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) and the ability to strike moving targets including aircraft carriers, the China Daily reported. The Dongfeng-21D is undergoing experimental testing and will be used as a defensive weapon, the state-owned paper cited him saying.
Underestimated Development
In January, the Pentagon said it had underestimated the speed of China’s military development, including a fighter jet with stealth capabilities that was unveiled in test flights this year. The Office of Naval Intelligence last year estimated the DF-21D missile had a range of almost 900 miles.
The weapon would be fired from mobile, land-based launchers and is “specifically designed to defeat U.S. carrier strike groups,” the report said.
Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said last month the U.S. has “no intention” of inflaming territorial disputes in the South China Sea. “We want recent tensions to subside and cooler heads to prevail,” he said in Washington.
The Philippines said yesterday it is considering bringing its dispute with China over the sea’s Spratly Islands before a United Nations tribunal.
‘No Clear Response’
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario received “no clear response” when he asked his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing last week if the Philippines and China could approach the UN’s International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea over their disputes in the South China Sea, foreign affairs department spokesman Raul Hernandez said in Manila.
“We will have to study” whether Manila can bring the matter before the body on its own, Hernandez said.
Claims to various islands and strategic shipping lanes have been made by the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Singapore. Vietnamese and Chinese boats have clashed twice in the South China Sea since late May.
The Philippines and Vietnam have rejected China’s claims as a basis for joint oil and gas exploration, setting the stage for clashes in areas where Exxon Mobil Corp., Talisman Energy Inc., Forum Energy Plc and Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, have operations.
--Liza Lin, with assistance from Joel Guinto in Manila, Ben Richardson in Hong Kong and Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok. Editors: Daniel Ten Kate, Ben Richardson
10 comments:
US navy drills are absolutely unnecessary and counter productive.
China, if you have the gut then shoot them. Your military are very large don't be afraid of a smaller country
weren't the US and vietnam were once enemies in the so-called vietnam war? now they are friends? what was the use of having had that war if they are now friends, really! maybe, people should think twice about going to war again, if this is the case, you know!
maybe it's called changes?
Will China and USA collide?
These two richest countries won't.
If both of them will break out,China
will fall.Why?
East and West Germany(Berlin Wall
Fall)and Soviet Union(Mikhail
Gorbachev Fall).Many states broke out
and became independent.
If China would burst out into flame,
Tibet and Mongolia(inside China)
will be free from China.
This cosiness between the US and Vietnam is just marriage of convenience and is opportunistic in character.
In History of the world China is always paper dragon. China won't win any war that involve USA. China didn't win the war with Vietnam during 70 and 80. China is Paper dragon with shit weapons that only copy from Russia and US but China still can't master their weapons yet. Cheap shit dragon paper called China.
China has only population over billions people but has no power in military. The world give China as one of super power country because of the population only, not military weapons.
Shit cheap China nation!
INdia can defeat China easily because India has long range missiles over 160 000km range with real Nuclear warhead inside.
HERE,WE GO AGAIN,IT IS ALWAYS ABOUT THE VIET-CONG AND THE UNITED STATE OF AMERICA!.DURING,THE WORLD WAR TWO,THEY BOTH WERE MARRIED,AFTER THAT THEY WERE DIVORCED.FORTUNATELY,THEY WOULD LIKE TO BE REUNITED AND THE PHILIPINE IS ALWAYS THE WESTERN'S BULL DOG!.THE AMERICAN SHOULD BE RECONSIDERED AS A CIVILIZATION COUNTRY ON THIS PLANET!.THEY SHOULD NOT LET THE VIET-CONG BEING DRAGGED THEM DOWN TO THE HELL!.BECAUSE RIGHT NOW,THE U.S.A.'S ECONOMIC IS REALLY COLLAPED.
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