“Can they then explain, isn’t this kind of continued strengthening of military deployments in the South China Sea and areas surrounding it considered militarization?” Hua Chunying asked.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned that the recent agreement between the US and the Philippines, which allow Washington to beef up its military presence in the disputed South China Sea s should not pose threats to “any third party nor harm other nations’ sovereignty or security interests.”
“Can they then explain, isn’t this kind of continued strengthening of military deployments in the South China Sea and areas surrounding it considered militarization?” Hua Chunying asked.
In response to last week’s deal between the US and the Philippines, which allows Washington to have military presence at five bases in the Asian state, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman voiced Chinese concern.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei slammed Washington’s military build-up in the South China Sea last month by accusing the US for militarizing the disputed waters by conducting patrols.
However, the South China Sea has become a place of tension between the Chinese and the west. Several analysts suggested that the US has been backing and influencing the Chinese neighbors to stand against China in order to implement the US policy to contain China.
Every year $5.3 trillion of trade passes through the South China Sea, $1.2 trillion is U.S. trade. And more than half of the world’s annual merchant fleet tonnage and a third of all maritime traffic worldwide travel through Chinese waters.