Chinese officials issued a statement warning that the US is “inciting confrontation” in the South China Sea with various threats, including threats to impose sanctions against Chinese officials over island claims.
China is one of several countries with competing claims in the South China Sea. In all cases, the US backs other nations over China, and in cases where China isn’t involved, they urge all sides to work things out equitably.
The State Department now says “nothing’s off the table” on the South China Sea, including imposing new sanctions against Chinese officials over the claims to islands. There is believed to be substantial oil off-shore, which is why the US wants nations who don’t have the ability to exploit it, i.e. not China, to own those islands.
Chinese officials are threatening retaliatory sanctions against the US, and intend to maintain their claims on the islands, whether or not it means continued rising tensions with the US.
China Warns US Sanction Threats Are ‘Inciting Conflict’ in South China Sea
US warns 'nothing's off the table' in island claims
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.
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