US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to cruise on US warship in South China Sea
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Malaysian counterpart will cruise on an American warship in the South China Sea amid growing tensions over the disputed sea.
Carter and Malaysian Defense Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, will cruise on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday, a US military official said.
The two military chiefs have been attending a meeting of defense ministers from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and regional partners including the United States, China and Russia.
There was no information about where the US aircraft carrier would sail but it has been on patrol in the South China Sea where territorial disputes between China and several of its neighbors have raised fears of conflict.
On Tuesday, Carter told his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan in Kuala Lumpur that the US military would continue to operate in the South China Sea.
In similar remarks on Tuesday, the head of the US Pacific Command said in Beijing that the United States will continue to patrol the waters surrounding China’s man-made islands in the disputed waterway.
China insists it has sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims.
The US does not recognize China’s sovereignty in the disputed waters and has sent surveillance aircraft and warships to monitor Chinese activities.
Washington accuses Beijing of conducting a massive “land reclamation” program in the disputed waters, whereby it has built up rocks and reefs into artificial islands with facilities for potential military use.
However, Beijing accuses Washington of meddling in the regional disputes and deliberately stirring up tensions in the region.
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