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Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian
The US’s top military commander in the Asia-Pacific begins a timely visit to China today — less than a week after dispatching the guided-missile destroyer on a “freedom of navigation” mission near Chinese-built facilities in the Spratly Islands.
Admiral Harry Harris will spend three days in China on this first visit as the head of US Pacific Command, which has military responsibility for more than half the world’s area and population.
Admiral Harris — who coined the term “Great Wall of Sand” to describe the structures China has built on reclaimed land in the South China Sea — will hold talks with senior leaders of the People’s Liberation Army and visit Chinese military installations.
Pacific Command said that “sustained military-to-military dialogue between the US and China is designed to maximise co-operation on areas of mutual interest while candidly addressing and managing disagreements.”
Admiral Harris visited China 18 months ago as US Pacific Fleet commander, helping lead a delegation that approved a joint Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea negotiated with Chinese counterparts during the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang responded to the “sail past” of the USS Lassen, within the 12 nautical miles limit of control claimed by the Chinese: “Relevant authorities of the Chinese side monitored, followed and warned the US vessel,” which he said had entered those waters “illegally”.
The US has also sought to deflate tensions by announcing similar exercises around reclaimed features controlled by Vietnam and The Philippines.
The US’s top military commander in the Asia-Pacific begins a timely visit to China today — less than a week after dispatching the guided-missile destroyer on a “freedom of navigation” mission near Chinese-built facilities in the Spratly Islands.
Admiral Harry Harris will spend three days in China on this first visit as the head of US Pacific Command, which has military responsibility for more than half the world’s area and population.
Admiral Harris — who coined the term “Great Wall of Sand” to describe the structures China has built on reclaimed land in the South China Sea — will hold talks with senior leaders of the People’s Liberation Army and visit Chinese military installations.
Pacific Command said that “sustained military-to-military dialogue between the US and China is designed to maximise co-operation on areas of mutual interest while candidly addressing and managing disagreements.”
Admiral Harris visited China 18 months ago as US Pacific Fleet commander, helping lead a delegation that approved a joint Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea negotiated with Chinese counterparts during the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang responded to the “sail past” of the USS Lassen, within the 12 nautical miles limit of control claimed by the Chinese: “Relevant authorities of the Chinese side monitored, followed and warned the US vessel,” which he said had entered those waters “illegally”.
The US has also sought to deflate tensions by announcing similar exercises around reclaimed features controlled by Vietnam and The Philippines.
