China-U.S. fail to narrow down differences despite talks

Washington has described the manoeuvre carried out by its warship as a "freedom of navigation" exercise in international waters.

Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., U.S. Navy Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, (left) shakes hands with Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission before their meeting at the Bayi Building in Beijing, China.

China has warned that any repetition of the last month’s incident, when a U.S. warship, > without consent , sailed through Zhubi reef area, in the South China Sea, can lead to an armed confrontation.

China’s blunt assertion followed > remarks by the visiting head of the U.S. Pacific Command, Harry B.Harris. During an address at the Stanford Center of Peking University on Tuesday, Admiral Harris had made it plain the U.S. military “will continue to fly, sail, and operate whenever and wherever international law allows. The South China Sea is not — and will not — be an exception." His remarks echoed the observation of US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, who had stated a day earlier that more ships would follow the lead of USS Lassen, which had transited within a 12 nautical miles zone off the Zhubi reef controlled by China.

Washington has described the manoeuvre carried out by its warship as a “freedom of navigation” exercise in international waters. But the Chinese, who claim sovereignty over the area, have

> slammed the “freedom of navigation” premise of the US argument. “The so-called issue of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is a pseudo-proposition… The international waterway is wide enough for the U.S. vessel. Why did it choose to take a detour to show its strength in waters off the relevant islands and reefs of the Nansha (Spratly) Islands and try to justify it in the name of safeguarding navigation freedom? It is blatant provocation," asserted Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

A commentary in the state-run

China Daily went further, when it stressed that “without proper risk management the current feud over the U.S.’ provocative move will only escalate and could even lead to confrontation”.

The Chinese have followed up their > repeated warnings with the deployment of its frontline aircraft in the disputed Spratly islands of the South China Sea. The highly capable Shenyang J-11 fighters — based on the advanced Russian SU-27 jets — have been deployed at Woody Island, called Yongxing Island by China. Analysts say that the U.S. patrol may have given the Chinese a justification to militarise their artificial islands sitting atop the coral reefs in the South China Sea.

The Sino-U.S. military tensions in the Pacific were also underscored last month by the stalking near Japan of the U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, by a Chinese attack submarine. A few days later TU-142 bombers from Russia — a close ally of China — also flew within a mile of the Reagan, at a height of 500 feet, triggering a scramble by US F/A-18 planes from the deck of the carrier.

Unsurprisingly, Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) did not, apparently, mince his words when he met Admiral Harris in Beijing on Tuesday. He pointed out that China is “strongly dissatisfied” with Washington’s moves.

While the military commanders of the two countries conferred in Beijing, China’s Defence Minister, Chang Wanquan and his U.S. counterpart, Ashton Carter met on Tuesday ahead of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ conference in Malaysia.

U.S. officials recounted that Gen. Chang stressed that there was a bottom line to China’s defence of its sovereign territory. South China Sea disputes are expected to feature during the dialogue, but it is unlikely that the U.S. and Japan will succeed in persuading the ASEAN to endorse a statement that the issues are of major concern, signaling that South East Asia is hardly rallying behind the U.S. on > South China Sea disputes .