BEIJING, China (CCTV) — China’s defence ministry said on Thursday (February 25) that his country has the legitimate right to deploy defenses in the South China Sea in the face of a militarization process being pushed by the United States.
China and the United States have sparred repeatedly over the past week following reports China is deploying advanced missiles, fighters and radar equipment on islands in the South China Sea, especially on Woody Island in the Paracels.
The United States has accused China of militarizing the disputed waters, while China’s defense ministry repeated on Thursday that it can deploy whatever equipment it wants on its own soil.
“No matter in the past or at present, no matter temporarily or permanently, no matter if it this kind of equipment, or that kind of equipment. It is China’s legitimate right to deploy defense facilities within (our own) territory,” defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a regular monthly news briefing.
Beijing, for its part, has been angered by “freedom of navigation” air and sea patrols the United States has conducted near islands China claims in the South China Sea.
Those have included one by two B-52 strategic bombers in November and by a U.S. Navy destroyer that sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels last month.
Wu said the U.S. was employing double standards, asking why U.S. patrols in the South China Sea should not also be considered militarization.
“Shouldn’t we call it militarization if the United States ropes in and puts pressure on allied countries and partners to carry out joint drills and joint patrols with strong pertinence in the South China Sea? The U.S. turned a blind eye to the above actions of militarization but always accused China of its legitimate and legal construction of defense capabilities. I have to say, this is (called) typical double standards,” Wu said.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
Asked if China would join a major U.S.-hosted naval drill this summer, Wu confirmed on Thursday it would send warships, even as tension between the world’s two largest economies mounts over the South China Sea.
“Joining these military exercises will be beneficial to improving Chinese navy’s ability to contend with non-traditional security threats. At the same time, it will also be beneficial to deepening China’s professional exchanges and pragmatic cooperation with the relevant countries’ navies,” he said.
The Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC, is billed as the world’s largest international maritime exercise, held every two years in Hawaii in June and July.
Critics of the Obama administration, including U.S. Senator John McCain, have said the U.S. should bar China from the drills to show U.S. disapproval of its military actions.
The U.S. and its allies have expressed growing concern over the Asian giant’s military buildup, as well as its increasingly assertive posture in the South China Sea.
China took part in the RIMPAC exercises in 2014 with more than 20 countries, but defense officials have said its participation was limited to areas such as humanitarian relief and search and rescue operations.