China has been embroiled in territorial disputes with smaller neighbors including Vietnam and the Philippines over islands, reefs and lagoons in the South China Sea.
The top American military commander in the Indo-Pacific region says the U.S. will maintain the recent pace of freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea aimed at challenging China’s territorial claims.
Chief of U.S. Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told reporters in Tokyo that U.S. Navy ships will continue to operate freely in international waters, including the possibility of an aircraft carrier navigating through the Taiwan Strait.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters on Monday that China dispatched planes and ships to demand that the guided-missile destroyer McCampbell leave waters around the Paracel Islands.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said his government will not allow any foreign military bases in its territory and called media reports that China is seeking a naval base there "fake news."
The platform appears to be topped with a radome and solar panels, and its strategic location makes it likely it is intended to extend China’s radar or signals intelligence collection in the area.
The arrival of the carrier Ronald Reagan and its strike group in the Asian financial hub is being seen as a friendly gesture ahead of a planned meeting later this month between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
It was also another chance for Japan and Australia to present a united front as regional partners in the Asia-Pacific amid ongoing concerns of spreading Chinese influence, including the country’s building of islands in the disputed South China Sea.
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