BEIJING—China is warning the United States of a nuclear war if the American government puts meat into a statement made by incoming US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the Chinese should be prevented from occupying artificial islands they built in parts of the South China Sea that China is disputing with the Philippines and other countries. Tillerson, former ExxonMobile chief executive officer, told US senators that he would seek to deny Beijing access to the artificial islands that China has been building in the South China Sea. ‘Devastating’ clashIf Tillerson acted on his threats, Chinese state-owned China Daily warned “it would set a course for devastating confrontation between China and the US.”Satellite photos show China has been hard at work building military facilities in the contested waters, which are also claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam, among other claimants. But Obama has not taken a position on the ownership of the islets, reefs and shoals that sit in one of the world’s hot spots. Tillerson, however, explicitly said that the territories “are not rightfully China’s.” —AFP

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer January 13, 2017 16:59 UTC