21.1 C
Athens
Παρασκευή, 22 Νοεμβρίου, 2024

China’s ‘aggressive behaviour’ in South China Sea must be challenged, US Navy official says

Περισσότερα Νέα

- Advertisement -

China’s “aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea, including the use of a water canon by its coast guard against a Philippine vessel, must be challenged and checked, the commander of the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said on Sunday.

Vice Admiral Karl Thomas assured the Philippines of US backing in the face of “shared challenges” in the region, saying: “My forces are out here for a reason.”

The largest of the US Navy’s forward-deployed fleets, the Seventh Fleet, headquartered in Japan, operates as many as 70 ships and has around 150 aircraft and more than 27,000 sailors.

It operates over an area of 124 million square kilometres from bases in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

“You have to challenge people I would say operating in a grey zone. When they’re taking a little bit more and more and pushing you, you’ve got to push back, you have to sail and operate,” Thomas told Reuters.

- Advertisement -

“There’s really no better example of aggressive behaviour than the activity on August 5 on the shoal,” he added.

On August 5, a Chinese coast guard ship used a water cannon against a Philippine boat carrying supplies to troops aboard a warship Manila intentionally grounded on a shoal in the South China Sea, a fault line in the rivalry between the US and Beijing in the region.

Thomas said he had had discussions with Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, the head of the Philippine Western Command overseeing the South China Sea, “to understand what his challenges are to find opportunities to be able to help him”.

“We certainly shared challenges. So I wanted to better understand how he views the operations that he’s responsible for. And I want to make sure that he understood what I had available,” said Thomas who was in Manila for a port call.

On Saturday, Thomas said he joined a flight from Manila “to go out and check out the South China Sea”.

The Philippines won an international arbitration award against China in 2016, after a tribunal said Beijing’s sweeping claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea had no legal basis.

China has built militarised, manmade islands in the South China Sea and its claim of historic sovereignty overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

- Advertisement -

ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΤΕ

εισάγετε το σχόλιό σας!
παρακαλώ εισάγετε το όνομά σας εδώ

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Ροή ειδήσεων

ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ

Fatwa against VPNs: A threat to digital freedom in Pakistan

In a rapidly evolving digital world, where technology is increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, the internet is often viewed as a...

Strikes and protests increase in China due to unpaid wages and factory closures

Strikes and protests by labourers and industry workers have seen arise in China where such incidences are strictly forbidden. The majority of the protests...

Pakistan: HRCP demands reversal of Anti-Terrorism Act amendment proposal, warns of threats to democracy

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) concluded its 38th Annual General Meeting with a stern call for urgent action to address Pakistan’s worsening...

China’s space ambitions face ‘huge test’ from Musk presence in Trump White House

Tech mogul Elon Musk's potential weight in the second Donald Trump administration is likely to accelerate the US space programme and pose a "huge test" to China's extraterrestrial...

ΔΗΜΟΦΙΛΗ ΑΡΘΡΑ

Φέτβα κατά των VPN: Μια απειλή για την ψηφιακή ελευθερία στο Πακιστάν

Σε έναν ταχέως εξελισσόμενο ψηφιακό κόσμο, όπου η τεχνολογία ενσωματώνεται ολοένα και περισσότερο σε κάθε πτυχή της ζωής μας, το Διαδίκτυο θεωρείται συχνά ως...

Fatwa against VPNs: A threat to digital freedom in Pakistan

In a rapidly evolving digital world, where technology is increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, the internet is often viewed as a...

Σε κίνδυνο τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα στο Πακιστάν

Η Επιτροπή Ανθρωπίνων Δικαιωμάτων του Πακιστάν (HRCP) ολοκλήρωσε την 38η Ετήσια Γενική Συνέλευση με μια αυστηρή έκκληση για επείγουσα δράση για την αντιμετώπιση της...

Οι απεργίες και οι διαδηλώσεις αυξάνονται στην Κίνα λόγω των απλήρωτων μισθών και του κλεισίματος των εργοστασίων

Απεργίες και διαμαρτυρίες από εργάτες και εργάτες της βιομηχανίας έχουν εμφανιστεί στην Κίνα όπου τέτοια περιστατικά απαγορεύονται αυστηρά. Η πλειονότητα των διαμαρτυριών διεξήχθη πριν...