BEIJING (AP) - A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves:
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest developments in the South China Sea, the location of several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.
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POMPEO EXPRESSES CONCERNS
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed U.S. concerns over China’s militarization of its island holdings in the South China Sea during a visit centered on cooperation over North Korea’s nuclear program.
Following a meeting Thursday with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Pompeo said he “reaffirmed our concern with respect to China’s efforts to build and militarize outposts in the South China Sea, endangering the free flow of trade and threatening the sovereignty of other nations and undermining regional stability.”
Pompeo said Wang confirmed to him China’s “willingness to resolve the disputes in a peaceful way, without resort to threats, coercion or intimidation.”
He said he was confident China and the U.S. could keep the peace in the region.
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FORMER NATO HEAD WARNS
The former top U.S. commander for NATO has urged the U.S. administration not to make any deals endorsing China’s South China Sea claims in exchange for help in convincing North Korea to end its nuclear and missile programs.
U.S. President Donald Trump must “avoid giving ground (or in this case, giving up water) in the South China Sea to get a low-value deal out of North Korea,” James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who served as the top U.S. commander for NATO from 2009 until 2013, said in a June 8 editorial for Bloomberg.
“Doing so, while tempting in the short term, would give China an immense and far-reaching advantage in the region,” wrote Stavridis, who currently serves as dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Stavridis said China “operates warships and civilian vessels as though it is the sole proprietor of the waters” in the South China Sea, while challenging all foreign-flagged ships operating there.
“Beijing is, in essence, building a series of unsinkable aircraft carriers throughout the million-and-a-half square miles of the South China Sea,” he wrote.
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PHILIPPINES’ DUTERTE SLAMMED
Left-wing activists heckled Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and called him a “traitor” amid criticism of his handling of territorial disputes with China.
A small but rowdy group of young protesters yelled, “oust Duterte,” ’’traitor” and “fascist” during a televised speech by the president delivered in the town of Kawit.
Duterte has come under fire from critics who say he’s been too soft in the country’s dispute with China over contested South China Sea territories.
They say that approach has further emboldened China with its increasingly assertive actions in one of the world’s busiest waterways. They cite reports that Chinese coast guard officials have repeatedly boarded Philippine fishing boats and taken their fish catch in recent months at disputed Scarborough Shoal, which was seized by China from the Philippines after a tense standoff in 2012.
Officials say Duterte’s close engagement with China has fostered talks over the long-seething disputes and won Chinese trade and investment.
Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua told reporters that Chinese authorities are investigating the reports of Chinese forces seizing fishing catches.
If the reports are true, “let’s view it as an isolated incident,” Zhao said, adding that such incidents should not affect the improved ties between the Asian neighbors.
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