PENTAGON: CHINA MISSILE LAUNCH IN SPRATLYS ‘DISTURBING’
WASHINGTON— The Pentagon has said a recent Chinese missile launch in the disputed South China Sea was “disturbing” and contrary to Chinese pledges that it would not militarize the disputed waterway.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said China tested multiple antiship ballistic missiles over the weekend.
“Of course the Pentagon was aware of the Chinese missile launch from the man-made structures in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands,” Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn said on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to speak on behalf of all the sovereign nations in the region, but I’m sure they agree that the PRC’s behavior is contrary to its claim to want to bring peace to the region and obviously actions like this are coercive acts meant to intimidate other (South China Sea) claimants,” Eastburn said. PRC is an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
China has not confirmed the missile tests and its foreign ministry declined to comment, referring questions to the defense ministry, which did not respond to a requests from news agencies for comment.
Warning to other ships
The Chinese government has said that the military was carrying out drills between the Spratlys and the Paracel islands starting last weekend and ending on Wednesday. It warned other ships not to enter a designated area between the Spratlys and Paracel islands.
China’s claims to nearly the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in shipborne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippine military had “no firsthand knowledge about this missile launch.”
“We will conduct our own inquiry and will decide later what to do if proven correct,” he said in a message to reporters, adding that he only learned about the missile tests from news reports.
US and foreign news agencies reported that the Pentagon had confirmed that China had conducted missile tests in the South China Sea. NBCNews first reported the tests.
US-China flash points
The South China Sea is one of a growing number of flash points in US-China relations, which include a trade war, US sanctions and Taiwan.
China and the United States have repeatedly traded barbs in the past over what Washington says is Beijing’s militarization of the South China Sea by building military installations on artificial islands and reefs.
According to US intelligence reports, China installed in May last year antiship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on its artificial islands in the disputed waters, particularly on Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) Reef, Subi (Zamora) Reef and Mischief (Panganiban) Reef.
Subi Reef is about 22 kilometers from the Philippine-occupied Pagasa (Thitu) Island. Mischief Reef is part of the country’s continental shelf as confirmed by the international arbitral tribunal in a 2016 ruling. It is the closest Chinese manmade island to the Philippines.