Taiwan's Defense Ministry said the missile batteries had been set
up on Woody Island in the Paracels chain, which has been under
Chinese control for decades, but is also claimed by Taiwan and
Vietnam.
A U.S. defense official also confirmed the "apparent deployment" of
the missiles, first reported by Fox News.
Bishop, the first senior Western official to visit China since the
missile reports, said she had raised the issue of the South China
Sea's militarization in her talks.
"President Xi said in Washington last year that China did not intend
to militarize the islands and we certainly hold China to that and
that's been reiterated to me," she told reporters, after meeting
China's top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi.
"In the case of the surface-to-air missile claim, that's disputed by
China. We raised the matter and we've had a discussion about it,"
Bishop added.
Pressed on whether China was denying the presence of missiles, she
said, "No, they did not deny, but nor did they admit that there
were. It was challenged. The reports were challenged.
"The point about the surface-to-air missiles is in dispute, so until
such time as we have a clear picture of it, of course it's a matter
of concern."
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5
trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia,
Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
STABILITY "THREATENED"
The Chinese government has offered few specific details in response
to the missiles claim, while accusing Western media of "hyping up"
the story and saying China has a legitimate right to military
facilities on territory it views as its own.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Thursday would also
neither confirm nor deny if the missiles were on Woody Island,
repeating that China has had defense facilities on the islands for
decades.
Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez, the Philippine military commander
responsible for the South China Sea, said any such missile
deployment would be a concern for the international community.
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"It has an impact," he told reporters. "There is no reason to deploy
them if you are not going use them ... If they have that there, they
have the intention to use it.
"What if they use them against a civilian aircraft who ignores their
challenge? The stability in the region is being threatened because
of the deployment of such arms."
China has been angered by air and sea patrols the United States has
conducted near artificial islands China has built in the Spratly
islands chain farther south in the South China Sea, including some
by two B-52 strategic bombers in November.
Last month, a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of
Triton Island in the Paracels, a move China condemned as
provocative.
China needs to strengthen its "self-defense" in the South China Sea
in the face of "more frequent provocations from the U.S. military,"
the influential state-run tabloid, the Global Times, wrote in an
editorial on Thursday.
"Jet fighters from the United States, an outside country, may feel
uneasy when making provocative flights in the region. To us, that's
a proper result," it said of the reported missile deployment.
The United States claims no territory in the South China Sea but has
expressed serious concerns about how China's increasingly assertive
pursuit of territorial claims there could affect the vital global
trade routes that pass though it.
(Additional reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez)
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