Australia - Foreign Minister Warns As Beijing Installs Missile Systems In South China Sea

Both the governments of Australia and the US have warned China that it is escalating an already dangerous situation when satellite pictures on US media showed that the Communist government in Beijing was placing missile systems on the highly contested islands in the South China Sea which the Chinese army has taken over. China has built airport landing strips and docks for its navy on those contested islands, thus allowing it to control shipping in the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">China &#39;deploys missiles&#39; in South China Sea, US warns of consequences <a href="https://t.co/ErYq9DrTx0">https://t.co/ErYq9DrTx0</a> <a href="https://t.co/3a2MtwyYWS">pic.twitter.com/3a2MtwyYWS</a></p>&mdash; ABC News (@abcnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/abcnews/status/992207092663566336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">4 May 2018</a></blockquote>

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Australia’s Foreign Minister, Ms Julie Bishop stated: "If the media reports are accurate then the Australian Government would be concerned because this would be contrary to China's stated aspiration that it would not militarise these features."

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/22941-China-Beijing-Believes-John-Bolton-Would-Risk-Military-Conflict

"China of course has a unique responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council to uphold peace and security around the world.

"And any action to militarise features in the South China Sea would go against that responsibility and that role."

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/21069-China-Sends-Aircraft-Carrier-Near-Taiwan-Strait-As-Xi-Warns-Punishment-Is-Coming

Back in Washington, White House spokeswoman Ms Sarah Huckabee Sanders answered a question about the reports but refused to go into detail: "We're well aware of China's militarisation of the South China Sea."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Report: China Secretly Sends Missiles To Contested Islands In The South China Sea <a href="https://t.co/BzHyRW12my">https://t.co/BzHyRW12my</a> <a href="https://t.co/8FvPGxuqpQ">pic.twitter.com/8FvPGxuqpQ</a></p>&mdash; The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/992270282264989696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">4 May 2018</a></blockquote>

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Ms Sanders claimed that the White House had raised concerns with the Chinese about this in the past and warned that there would be ‘consequences’ if these installations continue.

Meanwhile the Chinese government, via spokeswoman Ms Hua Chunying of its Foreign ministry, indirectly confirmed the installation when it responded: “The relevant deployment targets no one. Anyone with no invasive intention will find no reason to worry about this."

"We hope that the relevant party could view this matter in an objective and calm way.”

Source:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-04/us-warns-china-after-new-missiles-placed-in-south-china-sea/9726208