Blocking Chinese access to islands in the South China Sea would require the U.S. to "wage war", an influential Chinese state-run tabloid said on Friday, after U.S. Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson suggested the strategy on Wednesday. Tillerson told his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he wanted to send a signal to China that their access to islands in the disputed South China Sea "is not going to be allowed". The United States would have to "wage a large-scale war" in the South China sea to prevent Chinese access to the islands, the Global Times said in an English language editorial. China claims most of the energy-rich South China Sea through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration conducted periodic air and naval patrols to assert the right of free navigation in the South China Sea.

Source: Egypt Independent January 13, 2017 09:00 UTC