REUTERS-U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state has
set a course for a potentially serious confrontation with Beijing, saying China
should be
denied access to islands it has built in the contested South China
Sea.
In comments expected to enrage Beijing, Rex Tillerson told his
confirmation hearing on Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations
Committee that China's building of islands and putting military assets on those
islands was "akin to Russia’s taking Crimea” from Ukraine.
Asked whether he supported a more aggressive posture toward China, he
said: "We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the
island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not
going to be allowed.”
The former Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) chairman and chief executive did not
elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands it has
built up from South China Sea reefs, equipped with military-length airstrips
and fortified with weapons.
Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for
specifics on how China might be blocked from the artificial islands.
China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5
trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.
When asked repeatedly about Tillerson's comments on blocking access to
islands, China's foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he couldn't make any
guesses as to what Tillerson was referring to and would not answer hypothetical
questions.
China's right to carry out 'normal activities' in its sovereign territory
in the South China Sea is 'indisputable', Lu said, speaking at a daily briefing
on Thursday. He did not elaborate.
Tillerson also said Washington needed to reaffirm its commitment to
Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, but stopped short of
Trump's questioning of Washington's long-standing policy on the issue.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in
1979, acknowledging that China takes the position that there is "one
China" and Taiwan is part of it. But the United States is also Taiwan's
biggest ally and arms supplier.
"I don’t know of any plans to alter the 'one China' position,"
Tillerson said.
Tillerson said he considered China’s South China Sea activity
"extremely worrisome" and that it would be a threat to the
"entire global economy" if Beijing were able to dictate access to the
waterway.
He blamed the current situation on what he termed an inadequate U.S.
response. "The failure of a response has allowed them just to keep pushing
the envelope on this," Tillerson said.
"The way we’ve got to deal with this is we’ve got to show back up in
the region with our traditional allies in Southeast Asia," he said.
Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration conducted periodic air
and naval patrols to assert the right of free navigation in the South China
Sea. These have angered Beijing, but seeking to blockade China's man-made
islands would be a major step further and a step that Washington has never
raised as an option.
Under his strategic "pivot" to Asia, Obama has increased the
U.S. military presence in the region, and Trump has vowed a major naval
buildup.
Tillerson's words also went beyond Trump's own tough rhetoric on China.
Regional military sources said while the U.S. navy had extensive
capabilities in Asia to stage blocking operations with ships, submarines and
planes, any such move against China's growing naval fleets would risk dangerous
escalations.
RELUCTANT TO CHALLENGE
Obama has sought to forge a united front in Southeast Asia against
China’s pursuit of its territorial claims, but some allies and partners who are
rival claimants have been reluctant to challenge Beijing.
Tillerson called China's South China Sea island-building and declaration
of an air defense zone in the East China Sea it contests with Japan
"illegal actions."
"They’re taking territory or control, or declaring control of
territories that are not rightfully China’s," he said.
The response was muted from the Philippines, a traditional U.S. ally that
last year won an international arbitration case that included a challenge to
China's island-building within its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
"These are not policies yet and let us wait if they will implement
what was said in the hearing," Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told
reporters on Thursday.
"Let's wait until Trump is in office."
His comments reflect the sharp change in Manila's approach to China under
new President Rodrigo Duterte, who wants good diplomatic and business ties with
Beijing and says challenging it is provocative and pointless. He makes no
secret of his lack of trust in the Obama administration and has chided it for
what he considers inaction in the South China Sea.
Tillerson also said the United States could not continue to accept
"empty promises" China had made about putting pressure on North Korea
over that country's nuclear and missile programs.
He said his approach to dealing with North Korea - which recently
declared it is close to carrying out its first test of an intercontinental
ballistic missile - would be "a long-term plan" based on sanctions
and their proper implementation.
Asked if Washington should consider imposing "secondary
sanctions" on Chinese entities found to be violating existing sanctions on
North Korea, Tillerson said: "If China is not going to comply with those
U.N. sanctions, then it's appropriate ... for the United States to consider
actions to compel them to comply."
He accused China of failing to live up to global agreements on trade and
intellectual property, echoing past remarks by Trump, who has threatened to
impose high, retaliatory tariffs on China. But Tillerson also stressed the
"deeply intertwined" nature of the world's two biggest economies.
"We should not let disagreements over other issues exclude areas for
productive partnership," he said.
REUTERS
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