• Burmese
Friday, June 20, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

China Raising Tension in Disputed Sea: US

Matthew Pennington by Matthew Pennington
August 6, 2012
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
China Raising Tension in Disputed Sea: US

The Chinese Navy destroyer Qingdao during a routine port visit. (Photo: US Navy)

1.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

WASHINGTON DC—The United States on Friday criticized China’s new military garrison in the contested South China Sea as risking an escalation in tensions.

The State Department statement underscored US concerns about situation in the resource-rich sea, a potential flashpoint. It voiced strong support for diplomatic efforts by Southeast Asian nations to negotiate with China, the region’s rising military power which claims virtually all of the sea for itself and would prefer Washington to stay out of the matter.

The Senate on Thursday also urged restraint among the claimant states—China and five of its neighbors—and said the US was committed to assisting Southeast Asian nations remaining “strong and independent.”

RelatedPosts

Myanmar’s Aging Leaders Continue to Suffer in Junta Jails

Myanmar’s Aging Leaders Continue to Suffer in Junta Jails

June 19, 2025
272
Trade and Traffic from Thai Border Region Dwindle as Checkpoints Multiply

Trade and Traffic from Thai Border Region Dwindle as Checkpoints Multiply

June 19, 2025
207
The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

June 19, 2025
242

Washington’s response comes 10 days after China formally established Sansha City on a remote island, 350 kilometers (220 miles) from its southernmost province. Sansha is intended to administer hundreds of thousands of square miles of water where China wants to strengthen its control over disputed, and potentially oil-rich islands. The Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, has described China’s move as unacceptable. Vietnam called it a violation of international law.

The State Department said the new city and military garrison, “run counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region.”

Beijing has announced plans to set up such a garrison for Sansha, and has named officers to lead it, but has provided no other details.

The US statement also follows an acrimonious annual meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) last month, where for the first time in its 45-year history, the bloc failed to issue a joint communiqué. The host country, Cambodia, viewed as pro-Beijing, rejected a proposal by the Philippines and Vietnam to mention their separate territorial disputes with China.

Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic Studies think tank in Washington, said the US seeks to shore up Asean unity and weaken China’s ability to intimidate and coerce its neighbors.

She noted that the statement, which follows high-level deliberations within the Obama administration on the issue, makes no mention of other claimant nations’ actions as provocative. That would annoy China, “which increasingly views the US as taking sides and emboldening Vietnam and the Philippines to confront China on South China Sea matters,” Glaser said.

The statement noted an uptick in “confrontational rhetoric, disagreements over resource exploitation, coercive economic actions,” and criticized the use of barriers to block access to the Scarborough Reef, scene of a standoff between Chinese and the Philippine vessels since April. It urged Asean and China to make progress on a code of conduct for addressing disagreements in the South China Sea.

The standoff at the reef, which the Philippines views as lying within its exclusive economic zone, began after Chinese fishing boats were stopped by the Philippine vessels. Manila deployed a navy ship, supplied by the US the previous year, leading China to send more vessels of its own and quarantine Philippine fruit exports to China. Manila says Beijing has not fully complied with a June agreement—supported by the US—for a mutual withdrawal and has used barriers to block Philippine access to the reef.

China is also critical of Vietnam, which passed a law in June stating its jurisdiction over the Paracel and Spratly Island chains and declaring that all foreign naval ships entering these areas must notify Vietnamese authorities.

The United States, which has tens of thousands of forces based in the Asia-Pacific, views itself as a stabilizing influence in the region, and its diplomacy on the South China Sea, where it says it holds on position on the competing sovereignty claims, has helped boost its standing in Southeast Asia. But criticism of China risks straining ties with Beijing that the US also sees as crucial for regional stability.

Republican contender Mitt Romney has accused President Barack Obama of being soft on China, and has promised to get tougher, particularly over Beijing’s trading practices.

Your Thoughts …
Matthew Pennington

Matthew Pennington

The Associated Press

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.3k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.4k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.9k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.7k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post

Burma, Thailand Tackle Malaria, Dengue

Burma Exports 3.3 Million Tons of Rice

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

6 days ago
1.7k
Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

6 days ago
1.8k

Most Read

  • On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Global Campaign Reaches Goal to Honor Aung San Suu Kyi on Her 80th Birthday

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Bago Resistance Claims 20 Myanmar Junta Personnel Killed

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Thai PM Faces Growing Calls to Quit in Cambodia Phone Row

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ADB Announces Record $100m Quake Aid Package for Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.