BEIJING TO HOLD SOUTH CHINA SEA WAR GAMES AFTER RULING

BEIJING: China is closing off a part of the South China Sea for military exercises this week, the government said on Monday, days after an international tribunal ruled against Beijing’s claim to ownership of virtually the entire strategic waterway.

Hainan’s maritime administration said an area southeast of the island province would be closed from Monday to Thursday, but gave no details about the nature of the exercises.

Six governments claim territory in the South China Sea, although the area where the Chinese naval exercises are being held is not considered a particular hotspot.

The announcement of the drills came in the middle of a three-day visit to China by the US Navy’s top admiral, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, to discuss the South China Sea dispute and ways to boost interactions between the two militaries.

A senior Chinese admiral said freedom of navigation patrols carried out by foreign navies in the South China Sea could end “in disaster”, a warning to the United States.

Speaking behind closed doors at a forum in Beijing on Saturday , Sun Jianguo, an admiral and Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the powerful Central Military Commission, said the freedom of navigation issue was a bogus one that certain countries repeatedly hyped up.

“When has freedom of navigation in the South China Sea ever been affected? It has not, whether in the past or now, and in the future there won’t be a problem as long as nobody plays tricks,” he said, according to a transcript of his comments seen by Reuters . AGENCIES