U.S. urges China to act responsibly in South China Sea
"We
expect them to be responsible on what they do as we are. And I believe
if we act in that way, there should be no issues," Captain Rudy Lupton,
commander of the USS Blue Ridge, the command and control ship of the
U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet based in Japan.
By Manny Mogato
MANILA |
Wed Aug 4, 2010 6:40am EDT
MANILA
(Reuters) - China should act responsibly in disputed territories in the
South China Sea to avoid political and security issues, the skipper of
the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet flagship said on Wednesday. Southeast Asian states,
including the Philippines, have become worried by China's increasingly
aggressive stance on the complex set of disputes in the South China Sea. Last
week, Chinese naval forces carried out drills in the disputed southern
waters amid tension with Washington over security in the Korean
peninsula and South China Sea. Last
year, there was a collision between sonar equipment being towed by a
U.S. Navy warship and a Chinese submarine near Philippine waters. Lupton
said the United States viewed the South China Sea as part of
international waters, where global trade passes through freely, and
everyone was entitled to operate in that area. "We
conduct operations here and China can operate in waters adjacent to
China," Lupton told reporters after USS Blue Ridge docked at Manila's
south harbor for a four-day visit. "Our president has said he doesn't
view China as a threat." The United
States has urged the several states claiming dozens of atolls and
islets, some believed to be holding valuable oil and mineral assets, to
settle the disputes peacefully. China's
growing might military might and rising defense spending have set alarm
bells ringing around the region, particularly in Japan and Taiwan. It has repeatedly said its claims on the southern waters and island are indisputable. It
has said it will respect the freedom of navigation in the South China
Sea as long as ships and aircraft transiting through "comply with
international law". U.S. Navy
ships pay routine port calls in Manila under a Cold War-era mutual
defense treaty. The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet's home port used to be in
Subic Bay, north of Manila, until November 1992 when the Philippines did
not renew its U.S. bases deal. (Editing by John Mair)
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