Foreign ministers of the United States and the Philippines have discussed the situation in the South China Sea and the gathering of Chinese ships on the Whitsun Reef.
The presence of Chinese ships on the Whitson Reef
US Expresses Concerns Over Chinese Ships: China’s infiltration activities in the water, land and airspace of other countries are working to increase tension in Asia. China has deployed ‘militia boats’ i.e. military ships near the Philippines in the South China Sea. The US has also expressed concern about this. US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin discussed with his Philippines counterpart on Saturday (China Philippines Fishing Boat). Austin, who is going from Washington to Israel as part of the international visit, called the Defense Minister of the Philippines, Delphine Lorenzana, on the plane itself.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Austin and Lorenzana discussed the situation in the South China Sea and the gathering of Chinese ships on the Whitson Reef. The Philippines has criticized China’s move. China has stated that the reason behind this is that its ships are stationed there for fishing (China Philippines South China Sea). Kirby said that in a phone conversation Austin proposed to Lorenzana a number of steps to further strengthen defense cooperation, including raising awareness of threats in the South China Sea.
America’s aircraft carrier stationed
He said earlier this week that the US aircraft carrier ‘USS Theodore Roosevelt’ and its combat group were stationed in the South China Sea. At the same time, there was news earlier that the Philippines is seeing the presence of Chinese ships as a threat (China and Philippines Relationship). It is believed that the people of the sea forces are also in these ships. These ships are spread over 200 miles of the Special Economic Zone of the Philippines, known as the Whitson Reef. The Philippines army also sends its aircraft to monitor them. However, China denied the entry of militia into the ships.
Scores of countries claim on SCS areas
Actually, this is the area on which many countries claim. On this, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte told Chinese Ambassador Huang Shiliang that the Philippines had won the Landmark Orbitration Case in 2016. Which made it clear what its sovereign rights are (China Philippines Island Dispute). Apart from China, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam also claim the South China Sea areas. This is the path from which at least $ 3.4 trillion of annual trade is done every year.
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