SINGAPORE: Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Friday (May 31) that China’s militarisation of the disputed South China Sea had been “excessive”.
Shanahan, speaking with reporters in Singapore on the sidelines of a defence forum, said China’s actions in the South China Sea, like installing surface-to-air missiles, was “excessive” and “overkill”.
Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and Shanahan held talks on Friday at an Asia security summit in Singapore, amid heightened tensions between the two countries over trade and security.
Shanahan – who on his first day in his role in January said the US military would focus on “China, China, China” – spoke to reporters ahead of his meeting with Wei.
“They argue that it is defensive, it looks like it’s a bit overkill, surface to air missiles, long runways, it seems excessive,” Shanahan said.
Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan talks to media during a news briefing after his meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Ryamizard Ryacudu in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 30, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
China and the United States have repeatedly traded barbs in the past over what Washington says is Beijing’s militarisation of the South China Sea by building military installations on artificial islands and reefs.
The US and China, locked in an escalating trade war, are also at odds over a series of strategic issues, from the disputed South China Sea to democratic Taiwan, claimed by China as its sacred territory, to be taken by force if needed.
Chinese Minister of National Defence Wei Fenghe salutes Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Mar 5, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Jason Lee)
