The Pentagon on Thursday called on China to launch ballistic missile test launches into the South China Sea, a move that the United States considers “counterproductive” to stem tensions in the region.
The Department of Defense – in a confirmation report that the Beijing army launched up to four ballistic missiles during military exercises around the Paracel Islands – said the action was in violation of China’s commitment in 2002 to “prevent activities that ‘ conflicts would complicate or escalate and affect peace and stability. “
“Conducting military exercises over controversial territory in the South China Sea is counterproductive to reduce tensions and maintain stability,” the Defense Department said in a statement. “The [People’s Republic of China’s (PRC)] actions, including missile tests, further destabilize the situation in the South China Sea. “
A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense later said during a briefing in Beijing that the country had carried out previously planned exercises, but did not name the rocket launches and said the exercises were “not aimed at one country.”
Ties between the United States and China are increasingly growing over sovereignty over the South China Sea, where Beijing has increasingly built up military installations on various disputed reefs.
China claims more than 80 percent of the 1.4 million-square-mile stretch of sea where Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have territorial claims.
The United States, which claims that the area should remain open for free passage for all international ships, increased pressure on China on Wednesday when it announced that it would implement travel restrictions on some Chinese officials over the nation’s movements regarding its presence. in the disputed waters. ,
“This military exercise is the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert illegal maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors,” the Pentagon said.
It added that in July, the Department of Defense warned China that the U.S. government was urging it to reduce “its militarization and coercion of its neighbors” in the region.
But it said “the PRC chose to escalate its exercise activities by firing ballistic missiles.”
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