Washington Tried to ‘Provoke Military Confrontation’ With China
SputnikNews.com
04.11.2015
The United States sent a guided missile destroyer close to China’s artificial islands in a bid to “intentionally provoke a military confrontation” with Beijing, expert on Asia Michael Billington told PressTV.
In late October, the USS Lassen sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi (Zhubi) Reef, a man-made feature in the Spratly archipelago, apparently challenging China’s sovereignty claims over this area of the hotly contested South China Sea. The operation was not authorized by Beijing.
China referred to Washington’s move as a “blatant provocation” and repeatedly asked the US to refrain from similar actions in the future. Beijing believes that this move violated international law and put regional security in jeopardy.
“We will resolutely respond to deliberate provocation from any country,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said during a press briefing on Tuesday, referring to the October 26 incident.
Despite warnings from China, the United States is intent on carrying out similar operations in the future.
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