News / China

No need for US gesticulation on South China Sea plans: Beijing

Thursday, 31 March 2016 4:01 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 31 March 2016 4:00 PM ]

China's Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun

China has denounced the recent speculation by US officials about Beijing’s plans in the disputed South China Sea, saying there is no need to “gesticulate” over the initiatives.

Recently, US officials said an upcoming international court ruling on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could make Beijing declare an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) as it did over the East China Sea in November 2013.

An ADIZ is an airspace over land or water in which the identification, location, and control of civil aircraft is performed in the interest of national security.

On Wednesday, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said Washington would not recognize the exclusion zone in the South China Sea, describing such a move by Beijing as “destabilizing”.

In response, China's Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a monthly news briefing on Thursday that any sovereign state had the right to establish an ADIZ.

"On this, there is no need for other countries to gesticulate," Yang said, adding, "Whether or not to or when to set up an air defense identification zone depends on whether there is an aerial threat or the level of aerial threat. It needs many considerations.”

China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. The contested waters are believed to be rich in oil and gas.

The dispute has at times drawn in extra-territorial countries, particularly the United States, which have more often sided with China’s rivals.

This file aerial view shows part of the city of Sansha on the island of Yongxing, also known as Woody island in the disputed Paracel chain in the South China Sea, which China considers part of the Hainan province. ©AFP

Earlier this month, Washington and Manila announced an agreement allowing for a rotating US military presence at five Philippine bases.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Yang said the deal represented "outdated Cold War thinking" which the US should ditch.

Beijing accuses Washington of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea. The US, however, accuses Beijing of carrying out what it calls a land reclamation program in the South China Sea by building artificial islands in the disputed areas.

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