Beijing has deployed a range of military hardware including anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles and electronic jammers across the South China Sea, where it has built islets and other maritime features into hardened military facilities,” Mattis said. China has also landed heavy bombers on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands. He also blasted Chinese President Xi Jinping for reneging on a 2015 promise made at the White House that Beijing would not militarize the island features in the South China Sea. Despite frequent warnings from Washington about China’s rising might and the pitfalls of its “Belt and Road” global infrastructure initiative, Beijing has faced few consequences for its South China Sea build-up and sweeping territorial claims. One modest exception came last week when the Pentagon disinvited China from biennial maritime exercises in the Pacific.

Source: Manila Times June 02, 2018 16:33 UTC