Alwaght- China says the US IS damaging peace and stability in the South China Sea and is undermining bilateral ties between the two countries.
The US once again sent warships into the territorial waters of China, seriously damaging the strategic mutual trust between the two sides, Defense Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Wu Qian said in a statement on Monday, as cited by Chinese media.
The comments come a day after the ‘USS Stethem,’ a guided-missile destroyer, sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands in the region.
According to Wu, Washington’s actions undermine the development of Chinese-US military relations, sour the political atmosphere and damage regional peace and stability.
He pointed out that, the Chinese army will strengthen its defense capabilities, increase the intensity of air and sea patrols, and vigorously defend the sovereignty and security of the country.
Meanwhile, China’s president has warned Donald Trump of “negative factors” emerging in their bilateral relationship. The message from Xi Jinping, made in a phone conversation with Trump on Monday morning, came after the White House took a series of moves that have angered Beijing, including a $1.4bn arms sale to Taiwan and imposing sanctions on a Chinese bank for doing business with North Korea.
On Sunday, China sent military vessels and warplanes to “warn off” the ‘USS Stethem,’ which had sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands (known as Xisha in Chinese) in the South China Sea. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, such US behavior “violated Chinese law and relevant international law, infringed upon China's sovereignty, and disrupted the peace, security and order of the relevant waters.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang called the US warplane’s maneuvers a “serious political and military provocation.”
The Paracel Islands are contested by China, Taiwan and Vietnam while the Spratly Islands are also additionally claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. China claims sovereignty over a large part of the South China Sea, a region crucial for China’s maritime trade.
China says it won't allow the US and to keep encroaching on its interests on its doorstep and interfering in regional stability.
