Chinese 'carrier killer' missiles are 'changing operational landscape' in South China Sea

Mar 02, 2016, 10:09

In remarks to Reuters on 23 February, Admiral Harry Harris, the head of US Pacific Command, said China was "clearly militarising" the South China Sea.

China gearing up for East Asia dominance: China is "changing the operational landscape" in the South China Sea by deploying missiles and radar as part of an effort to militarily dominate East Asia, a senior U.S. military official said on Tuesday.

China's Foreign Ministry said ahead of Wang's visit Beijing's military deployments in the South China Sea were no different from USA deployments on Hawaii.

This comes just a few days after evidence that China was installing missiles on another set of islands in the same area.

"We have said repeatedly with respect to China that the standard that should be applied to all countries with respect to the South China Sea is no militarization", he added, stating that he expected "further very serious conversations" on the issue.

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Woody Island is the largest island in the Paracel chain of islands in the South China Sea, and has had a runway since the early 1990s.

Satellite imagery of Cuarteron reef in the Spratlys released by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) showed what appeared to be a high-frequency radar installation, as well as a lighthouse, underground bunker, helipad and other communications equipment. "And the fact is that there have been steps by China, by Vietnam, by others that have unfortunately created an escalatory cycle".

Fox News reported on Tuesday that China had deployed fighter jets to Woody Island, the location in the Paracels where it had deployed anti-aircraft missiles.

The US has in recent months sent warships to sail within 12 nautical miles-the usual territorial limit around natural land-of a disputed island and one of China's artificial constructions in what it says is a defense of the right to free passage.

China and the United States have not entirely seen eye to eye on how strong the response should be to North Korea since the nuclear test, with Washington urging harsh punitive measures and Beijing emphasizing dialogue.

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"If a radar is there for some sort of normal navigation process and there's no missile attached to it, there are ways to work these things out", Mr. Kerry said at Tuesday's joint news briefing with Mr. Wang. And any defensive facilities practiced on the islands are a mere exercise of self-defense as allowed in worldwide law, says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

China said more than 80 percent of the South China Sea belongs to Beijing, according to Bloomberg, and the United States is concerned such claims are a preliminary move to exclude US vessels from global waters.

"We don't hope to see any more close-up military reconnaissance, or the dispatch of missile destroyers or strategic bombers to the South China Sea".

"We want a negotiated outcome", he said. "This would be very important in a Chinese anti-access area denial strategy that sought to reduce the ability of the U.S.to operate freely in the South China Sea, including bringing forces up through the South China Sea in case of any future crisis in Northeast Asia", he told the newspaper via email.

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