CHINA-SOUTH CHINA SEA: MALAYSIA/US
|
The Wall Street Journal reported on September 12, 2014, that Malaysia has offered to host U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft at a base on the edge of a disputed part of the South China Sea. The facility is likely to be the Royal Malaysian Air Force base on the island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo, which U.S. forces have used for exercises in the past. Malaysia's offer marks a further boost to the Obama administration's policy of rebalancing toward the Asian-Pacific region in the midst of anxiety about China's assertiveness over its territorial claims. The P-8 is capable of long-range surveillance and anti-submarine missions.
No agreement has yet been signed. While the ownership of Labuan itself isn't disputed by China, it lies close to the southern end of the Spratly Islands chain, which Malaysia and China both contest. Neither Malaysian officials nor China's Foreign and Defense ministries have yet responded to the report.
|