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A Chinese warship powers through the swell as it approaches Sydney Harbour. China says it will resolutely oppose any military provocation in its territorial waters, remarks which appeared to be directed at the United States, Vietnam and the Philippines
28th June, 2012
Agence France Press
China said Thursday it would resolutely oppose any military provocation in its territorial waters, remarks which appeared to be directed at the United States, Vietnam and the Philippines.
China's military has established
routine naval patrols in the South China Sea, "indisputable territory"
of the nation and a matter of "national sovereignty," defence ministry
spokesman Geng Yansheng said.
"We will resolutely oppose any military provocations," Geng said in statements posted on his ministry's website.
"The determination and will of China's military to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering."
Geng's remarks came as the
United States launched the largest-ever "Rim of the Pacific" naval
exercises in Hawaii, involving 22 nations, including the US, India,
Russia, Australia and the Philippines.
China was not invited to participate or observe the exercises.
Tensions in the South China Sea
have intensified recently with Vietnam and the Philippines both accusing
China of increasingly flexing its military muscle in the region,
despite a pledge from all claimants to avoid actions that could further
stoke tensions.
Both the Philippines and Vietnam
have also sought to shore up relations with the United States to
counter China's increasingly vocal assertions over the region that also
includes key international shipping routes.
Geng downplayed the US-sponsored
multi-national military exercises, but voiced concerns over
Washington's recent announcement to deploy more of its naval forces to
the Pacific Ocean.
"Frankly speaking, we do not
believe that this (the multilateral exercises) is such a big matter and
it is not worth being upset about," Geng, who was speaking at a press
briefing that was only open to Chinese journalists, said.
But "deploying more military
forces in the Asia-Pacific goes against the world's pursuit of peace,
development and cooperation, as well as trust among nations in the
region," he said.
The Philippines said Thursday it
was committed to "defuse the tension" with China over a disputed shoal,
despite the continued presence of Chinese ships in the area.
"While we continue to assert our
sovereignty over (the shoal) and sovereign rights over the waters
surrounding it, we are committed to defusing the tension in the area
through diplomatic discussions and consultations," Department of Foreign
Affairs Raul Hernandez said in a statement.
"We urge everyone to refrain
from making statements that would tend to re-escalate the situation in
the area," the statement added.
China says it has sovereign
rights to the whole South China Sea, believed to sit atop vast oil and
gas deposits. The sea is also claimed in whole or part by Taiwan,
Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
6 comments:
The irony of Chinese assertiveness is that it draws Vietnam closer to the US. That is good for Cambodia because the closer Vietnam is to the US, the closer its ally Cambodia is to the US. That means Cambodia needs to respect people rights and dignity. We have seen how Washington has helped released the 13 jailed Boeung Kak women. Thanks Hillary Clinton.
this will be a good wars between usa and china. this means china nieghbors will be effected big times. i will join china to rid of the yuon. this is when the nieghbors will win or lose. the usa is not going to risk anything with china because it is not their nieghbor. they might give thier allies big guns to kill each other while they sit in their office and drink beers and talk bad how good it is that g.,.,gs fight each others.
the days you would see a Yankee GI running around in SE Asia is over. they are too lazy to get off their fat bottoms and will sending instead, those new war toys..the unmanned flying bomber planes. It would be wise for ASEAN to think a way of not letting the two super powers to use the region as a battle ground for their test of supreamacy.
I agreed with you on this China&American confrontation over the sea piece of sh*t...Its suppose to be just Asian' s affairs ,now America sticks their long noses in.I don't want to see the war between these two super power (East vs west) all little countries in south east Asia will be a battlefield Cambodia is among them if the war breaks out due to the depute over sea.
They should find another way,solution not to engage with war or arm conflicts between East and West,bad thing will happen to small country like Cambodia,enough war in this region,no war please.....
I said let are youn take care themself let see if they can stand with another big boy like china...want to see who winning ?
According to histories China had invaded Srok Yuon 17 times and China is 100 times stronger than Yuon in military might...why China pulled back during those invasion? Why don't China stay and put up their secret agents like C.V did in Cpp's regime today? What did the pulled out tell you about China? Can anyone answer these questions????
China population 1billions plus and Yuon population around 90 millions,do you think Yuon get a chance to WIN?
Imagine if China just let its people 100 millions to live in Srok Yuon,1 Chinese kill1 Yuon it will over no more Yuon.
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