The Philippines and China have had a series of maritime run-ins,
including water cannon use, and heated verbal exchanges that
have triggered concern about an escalation at sea.
Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific
Command, said in an address to the Lowy Institute think tank in
Sydney that China's actions against the Philippines,
particularly in Second Thomas Shoal, were "dangerous, illegal
and they are destabilizing the region".
Aquilino said he was "very concerned about what is happening at
Second Thomas Shoal", where the physical action of the Chinese
coast guard and a fishing vessel had resulted in six sailors
injured.
"So what's next and how far are they willing to go in that
area?"
He said similar actions by China were also being seen elsewhere
in the region, including in Japan and Malaysia.
"This is not isolated, this is about the PRC (People's Republic
of China) trying to gain territorial space unilaterally through
force," he said.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory,
policed by an armada of coastguard vessels, some more than 1,000
km (620 miles) from its mainland, and has maintained its
responses have been appropriate in the face of Philippine
encroachment.
Aquilino said there was positive movement in the U.S-China
relationship since the leaders of the two countries had spoken,
with no concerning maritime interactions between the U.S. and
China since then.
Aquilino said he was concerned this detente was temporary, as
China sought to stabilise its economy.
He also expressed concern about what he said was synchronization
between Russia and China, and Russia and North Korea.
"Those sets of cooperation and the linkages are really a new
world and a concern," he said.
In the Pacific Islands, he said China was exercising economic
coercion, and said Australia and the U.S. were working together
to focus on increasing development assistance to the region,
including the Solomon Islands which has struck a security pact
with China.
"An increased military presence in that region is a direct
threat to Australia as it applies to homeland defence and it
doesn't put the U.S. in a good position either," he said.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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