CHINA-SOUTH CHINA SEA

 Addressing a high-level security forum attended by Southeast Asian defense ministers in China, CMC Vice Chairman General Fan Changlong said “We will never recklessly resort to the use of force, even on issues of sovereignty, and have done our utmost to avoid unexpected conflicts.” He reiterated that China’s islands “will not affect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea” and said recently completed lighthouses on Cuarteron Reef and Johnson South Reef in the Spratly archipelago “have already begun to provide navigation services to all nations”. General Fan Changlong assured that “We will continue to resolve disputes and differences with directly related parties through friendly consultation and are committed to working with relevant parties to maintain regional security and stability.” 


After a senior US official early this month told the Financial Times that the US navy would soon start “freedom of navigation activities” — sailing or flying within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly islands — to challenge Chinese claims, retired PLA Navy Rear Admiral Yang Yi, who has close links to the CCP leadership, warned the US that the People’s Liberation Army would deliver a “head-on blow” to any foreign forces “violating” China’s sovereignty. Writing in the official English-language Global Times newspaper on October 15, 2015, Rear Admiral Yang Yi said: “Safeguarding maritime rights calls for force and power.”
 






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