US accuses China of deploying surface-to-air missiles sparking bitter row
TENSIONS are running high after the United States accused China of deploying surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island in the South China Sea.
By LEDA REYNOLDS
Express.co.uk
Fri, Feb 19, 2016
The US State Department spokesman John Kirby said satellite imagery suggested “very recent” placement of missiles on Woody Island that went against China’s pledge not to militarise the area.
The island, in the Paracel island chain, is in the South China Sea, which sees more than $5trillion in global trade passes every year.
China claims most of the South China Sea, but Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
Since reports of missiles emerged, China’s top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, said that China had “challenged” the deployment report but had neither denied nor admitted the missiles were there.
Mr Kirby said: “The Chinese have said one thing, and yet appear to be doing another.
“We see no indication that this militarisation effort has stopped.
“It’s doing nothing to make the situation there more stable and more secure.
“In fact, it’s having quite the opposite effect.”
China hit back through its state-run Global Times news portal, which said the US had “ulterior motives in hyping up China’s deployment of missile defence systems on an island in the South China Sea”.
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