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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Beijing Not Amused After Tillerson Says US Will Block Chinese Access To South China Sea Islands |
| 2017-01-12 |
| [Zero Hedge] While Rex Tillerson's confirmation hearing as Trump's Secretary of State was for the most part uneventful, several hours into his back and forth with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tillerson compared China’s actions to those of Russia in Crimea, saying a failure to respond had allowed it to "keep pushing the envelope" in the South China Sea. "We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that first the island-building stops and second your access to those islands is also not going to be allowed" and that putting military assets on those islands was "akin to Russia’s taking Crimea" from Ukraine. With that statement, America's likely next secretary of state "has set a course for a potentially serious confrontation with Beijing" according to Reuters, which added that his comments are "expected to enrage Beijing." Tillerson, the former Exxon chairman and CEO, did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands it has built up from South China Sea reefs, equipped with military-length airstrips and fortified with weapons. Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for specifics on how China might be blocked from the artificial islands. Tillerson said he considered China’s South China Sea activity "extremely worrisome" and that it would be a threat to the "entire global economy" if Beijing were able to dictate access to the waterway. "This is the sort of off-the-cuff remark akin to a tweet that pours fuel on the fire and maybe makes things worse," Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra told Bloomberg. "Short of going to war with China, there is nothing the Americans can do." He blamed the current situation on what he termed an inadequate U.S. response. "The failure of a response has allowed them just to keep pushing the envelope on this," Tillerson said. China responded when its Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kand said China has been acting within the limits of its sovereignty. "Like the U.S., China has the right within its own territory to carry out normal activities," he said at a regular briefing in Beijing. When asked repeatedly about Tillerson's comments on blocking access to islands, China's foreign ministry spokesman said he couldn't make any guesses as to what Tillerson was referring to and would not answer hypothetical questions, Reuters reported. China's right to carry out 'normal activities' in its sovereign territory in the South China Sea is 'indisputable', Lu said, speaking at a daily briefing on Thursday. He did not elaborate. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 Yes. And China is paying attention. That old 'whose ox is gored' thing in play. (May be sp error.) |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2017-01-12 18:31 |
| #1 Guys like Malcolm Davis are part of the problem. |
| Posted by: jvalentour 2017-01-12 16:45 |