Reuters reported on June 3 that the US is considering increasing naval patrols in the East Sea, to challenge China’s militarization of this sea.
Two US officials and Western and Asian diplomats said the Pentagon is considering increasing freedom of navigation patrols (FONOP) near artificial islands that China illegally built and militarized.
There will be many US warships conducting FONOP patrols
This plan could include longer patrols, the deployment of more warships, or close surveillance of Chinese military posts in the area.
Asian and Western diplomats said: US officials also urged international allies and partners to increase naval deployment to the East Sea, at a time when China had deployed military assets and long-range missiles.
A Western diplomat said: `What we have seen in the past few weeks is just the beginning, there will be more planned,` referring to the first time two US warships conducted FONOP patrols.
That day, the destroyer Higgins and the cruiser Antietam both carried guided missiles into the 12-nautical mile waters of the artificial islands that China illegally built and militarized on the Hoang Sa archipelago (under Vietnamese sovereignty).
According to Reuters, two US warships passed through Cay Island, Linh Con Island, Tri Ton Island and Phu Lam Island respectively and conducted training activities.
The Pentagon does not comment on future FONOP operations, but spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan said: “We will continue to work with friends, allies and partners to secure the Indo-Pacific.
The US also canceled China’s invitation to attend the 2018 RIMPAC joint naval exercise to protest Beijing’s `continued militarization` of the East Sea.
This is the world’s largest international naval exercise, and the US decision is described as an `initial response`, meaning the US will have other responses, if China does not change its attitude.
According to Fox News, immediately after the invitation was canceled, China announced that the Liaoning aircraft carrier battle group had `reached the first stage of combat capability`.
Critics say FONOP patrols do not have a strong impact on China’s aggressive behavior, and are a way to hide that the US does not have a clear strategy to deal with China’s increasing control over the East Sea.
Security expert Tim Huxley in Singapore said that increasing pressure may slow down China’s militarization, but it is difficult to stop China: `They don’t do it to poke America or its neighbors in the eye, but
Fox News on June 3 also reported that US President Donald Trump said he was surprised, after US Secretary of Defense James Mattis criticized the Chinese government for militarizing artificial islands built illegally in the East Sea to `threaten`.
President Trump wrote on Twitter: `Very surprised that China did that.`
According to Vinh Thuy
A world
Nick John