"Building islands and then putting military assets on those islands is akin to Russia's taking of Crimea. Its taking of territory that others lay claim to," Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson said.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – The administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump is starting to lay the foundations for its confrontation with China over the South China Sea.
For the incoming administration, China should be denied access to the artificial islands it has built in the disputed waters.
Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil, told his confirmation hearing Wednesday that China's activity in the waters, which see trillion in shipborne trade a year, was "extremely worrisome."
"Building islands and then putting military assets on those islands is akin to Russia's taking of Crimea. Its taking of territory that others lay claim to," Tillerson said.
For Tillerson, the Obama administration had neglected to tackle the problem, saying the "failure of a response has allowed them to just keep pushing the envelope on this."
Under Obama, the US has repeatedly called for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and sailed and flown its assets near the islands China controls -- drawing repeated warnings from China.
According to CNN, China has laid claim to more than 12 million square km.
During his visit to Washington in September 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he would not militarise the islands but would only build runways.
In February 2016, American satellite photos show a ground-to-air missile battery on Yongxing, the largest of the Paracel Islands, claimed and held by China for more than forty years.
In July 2016, the Court of Arbitration ruled on the Law of the Sea stating that China "has no rights" to the South China Sea. Although its rulings are binding, they are not unenforceable. For its part, China claims that it “was the first to have discovered, named, explored and exploited” the disputed area.
After his election, Trump attacked China on Twitter, declaring his intention to strike new trade deals with Taiwan and questioning the one-China policy.