|
 Taiwan defense ministry spokesman Major General David Lo told
Reuters on Wednesday the missile batteries had been set up on Woody
Island. The island is part of the Paracels chain, under Chinese
control for more than 40 years but also claimed by Taiwan and
Vietnam.
A U.S. defense official also confirmed the "apparent deployment" of
the missiles, first reported by Fox News.
China's foreign minister said reports by "certain Western media"
should focus more on China's building of lighthouses to improve
shipping safety in the region.
"As for the limited and necessary self-defense facilities that China
has built on islands and reefs we have people stationed on, this is
consistent with the right to self-protection that China is entitled
to under international law so there should be no question about it,"
Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing.
The Chinese defense ministry told Reuters in a statement that
defense facilities on "relevant islands and reefs" had been in place
for many years, adding that the latest reports about missile
deployment were nothing but "hype".
 China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5
trillion in global trade passes every year, and has been building
runways and other infrastructure on artificial islands to bolster
its title.
The United States has said it will continue conducting "freedom of
navigation patrols" by ships and aircraft to assure unimpeded
passage through the region, where Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the
Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command,
said the deployment of missiles to the Paracels would not be a
surprise but would be a concern, and be contrary to China's pledge
not to militarize the region.
"We will conduct more, and more complex, freedom of navigation
operations as time goes on in the South China Sea," Harris told a
briefing in Tokyo. "We have no intention of stopping."
RISING TENSIONS
News of the missile deployment came as Obama and leaders of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations concluded a summit in
California, where they discussed the need to ease tensions in the
South China Sea but did not include specific mention of China's
assertive pursuit of its claims there.
China's increasing military presence in the disputed sea could
effectively lead to a Beijing-controlled air defense zone, analysts
said.
"(The missile deployment) reinforces the view that China intends to
exert growing control in these international waters, including
potentially by declaring an Air Defense Identification Zone," said
Rory Medcalf, Head of the National Security College at the
Australian National University.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, a South China Sea expert from the Center for a New
American Security, said it was not the first time that China had
sent such weapons to the Paracels.
"I do think surface-to-air missiles are a considerable development,"
she said. "If they have been deployed they are probably China's
effort to signal a response to freedom-of navigation operations, but
I don't think it is a totally unprecedented deployment."
[to top of second column] |
A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton
Island in the Paracels last month, a move China condemned as
provocative.
China last month said it would not seek militarization of its South
China Sea islands and reefs, but that did not mean it would not set
up defenses.
"Woody Island belongs to China," said Ni Lexiong, a naval expert at
the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.
"Deploying surface-to-air missiles on our territory is completely
within the scope of our sovereign rights. We have sovereignty there,
so we can choose whether to militarize it."
Taiwan President-elect Tsai Ing-wen said tensions were now higher in
the region.
"We urge all parties to work on the situation based on principles of
peaceful solution and self-control," Tsai told reporters.
Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests
for comment. But in a rare move, the country's prime minister on
Monday pressed Obama for a greater U.S. role in preventing
militarization and island-building in the South China Sea.
Images from civilian satellite company ImageSat International show
two batteries of eight surface-to-air missile launchers on Woody
Island, as well as a radar system, Fox News said.
The missiles arrived over the past week and, according to a U.S.
official, appeared to show the HQ-9 air defense system, which has a
range of 125 miles (200 km) and would pose a threat to any airplanes
flying close by, the report said.
In November, two U.S. B52 strategic bombers flew near artificial
Chinese-built islands in the Spratly Islands.
Asked about the report, Bill Urban, a Pentagon spokesman, said:
"While I cannot comment on matters related to intelligence, we do
watch these matters very closely."
(Additional reporting by Faith Hung in TAIPEI, David Brunnstrom in
WASHINGTON, Jeff Mason and Bruce Wallace in RANCHO MIRAGE, Megha
Rajagopalan and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING, Tim Kelly in TOKYO, Martin
Petty in HANOI, Matt Siegel in SYDNEY; Writing by Lincoln Feast;
Editing by Alex Richardson)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
