US Slams China’s South China Sea Exercises, Plans Announcement to Respond

China's exercises planned around Paracel Islands

US tensions with China continue to rise, with Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea continuing to loom large in the dispute, and risk becoming a flash point. China has announced a planned military exercise near the Paracel Islands, which is the latest issue.

The US doesn’t except China’s ownership of the islands, and the Pentagon condemned the exercises as “unlawful.” The US is also planning to make another announcement next week, though they did not say what it was be, beyond related to the exercise.

Historically, when it comes to the South China Sea, US measures are deliberately provocative, mostly deploying warships into the area to sail close to Chinese-claimed territory, and dare China to do something about it.

The South China Sea has a number of small islands claimed by multiple nations. The US has, as a policy, backed every other nation’s claims when they contradict China’s claims, while calling on everyone else to negotiate and solve their problems peacefully.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.