WASHINGTON: China has fired missiles into the disputed waters of the South China Sea, escalating U.S.-China tensions amid U.S. sanctions aimed at punishing companies that helped bolster China’s continued militarization of the region.
A U.S. defense official told VOA on Thursday the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched four medium-range ballistic missiles from mainland China into an area of the South China Sea between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands.
The missile launches on Wednesday came amid recent Chinese military exercises, which unilaterally closed off large areas of the sea contested by several claimants. Vietnam has protested the exercises.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the recent Chinese military exercise ”speaks volumes” about how the PLA views areas protected as free for passage under international law.
Navy Capt. John Gay, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the United States currently has 38 ships in the Indo-Pacific region and will continue to monitor activities, including the most recent Chinese military exercises.
The Pentagon issued a statement of concern Thursday, saying China’s actions “stand in contrast to its pledge to not militarize the South China Sea and are in contrast to the United States’ vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms.”
(VOA)
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