The U.S. Navy’s second-most senior commander also offered to support Southeast Asian countries if they choose to adopt a unified stance against Beijing
ENLARGESINGAPORE—The U.S.Navy’s second-most senior commander called on China to explain its land-reclamation works in the South China Sea and offered to support Southeast Asian countries if they choose to adopt a unified stance against Beijing.
The comments, in an interview Tuesday with Adm. Michelle Howard, vice chief of naval operations, add to recent pressure on China to address criticism about its construction of artificial islands in disputed waters. The U.S. is considering flying aircraft or sailing Navy vessels close to the islands, a move that could raise the stakes in the South China Sea and one over which Beijing has expressed strong concern.
“I think it’s now time for China to talk about what the reclamation of land means,” Adm. Howard said in the interview. “From my perspective, no one is saying they are putting a resort out there, so someone needs to explain what they are putting out there,” she said.
According to U.S. estimates, China has expanded artificial reefs in the Spratly Islands chain to as much as 2,000 acres of land, up from 500 acres last year. The expanded landmass could be large enough to accommodate military aircraft, which could extend Chinese influence in waters where several nations have competing claims. China’s long-standing position is that it has sovereignty over the area where the construction is taking place.
China’s foreign and defense ministries didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Adm. Howard’s remarks late Tuesday.
Any move by the U.S. to conduct patrols in waters claimed by China risks an escalation of military involvement in the region. The U.S. claims it doesn’t take sides in territorial disputes in the South China Sea, but that it is has an interest in maintaining freedom of navigation in the area.
Speaking at the International Maritime Defence Exhibition in Singapore, Adm. Howard said the U.S. Navy would be capable of freedom-of-navigation patrols, but declined to say whether any U.S. ships had already sailed within 12 nautical miles of China’s land reclamation works, the point at which China claims territorial waters.
She said the U.S. would stand with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations if its 10 member countries decided to work together to counter China. “If the Asean nations want to get together and do something to demonstrate their united purpose we’ll be supportive of that,” she said.
China’s claims in the South China Sea overlap with those of Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines—a U.S. treaty ally—and several of them have been bolstering defense ties with the U.S. in recent years in response to what they see as Beijing’s stepped-up efforts to assert its claims.
To date, the Asean nations have refrained from jointly challenging China’s claims. After a summit last month, Asean issued a statement that said reclamation work had “eroded trust and confidence and may undermine peace, security and stability in the South China Sea,” but the statement didn’t mention China by name.
Adm. Howard said the U.S. was already conducting routine patrols in the South China Sea and had encountered Chinese vessels in international waters. Each time, she said, they had established contact with other vessels using a previously agreed-upon communications protocol.
“It’s just as important for there to be dialogue at the tactical level to prevent miscalculation and misinterpretation as there is at the strategic level,” she said. “We are continuing that engagement and continuing to try to work through with our Chinese counterparts on behaviors and norms that we can all sign up to.”
Write to Jake Maxwell Watts at jake.watts@wsj.com
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