US says China 'aggressively' expanding presence into South China Sea

February 27, 2015

 

London: China is reportedly expanding its presence in the South China Sea in order to include stationing for ships and potential airfields as part of its "aggressive efforts to exert sovereignty," the U.S. intelligence chief said.

While addressing a Senate Armed Services Committee on worldwide threats, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper underlined U.S.' concerns over "land reclamation activities" in the South China Sea that could escalate tension between China and its neighbours, The Guardian reported.

Clapper said that although Beijing wanted "stable ties" with the United States yet it was not ready to accept bilateral and regional tensions in pursuit of its interests, especially on issues of maritime sovereignty.

He termed China's claim traced by a so-called " nine-dash line," a rough boundary that includes more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, "exorbitant."

The intelligence chief added that China was still in a "construction phase" so it was not clear what weaponry or troops it might deploy there.

He remarked that Chinese activities in the South China Sea over the past year-and-a-half including, oil drilling near disputed islands, which had escalated tension between China and Vietnam , was a "worrying trend."

China has consistently resorted to history to stake territorial claims in the sea and objects to "U.S. interference."

The U.S. is not a claimant of territory in the South China Sea but says it has a national interest in the peaceful resolution of the conflict for world trade.