The United States accuses China of militarizing the South China Sea and trying to intimidate Asian neighbors who might want to exploit its extensive oil and gas reserves. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper quoted a source close to the Chinese military as saying that China had launched two missiles, including an “aircraft-carrier killer”, into the South China Sea on Wednesday morning in a warning to the United States. China complained that the United States had sent a U-2 reconnaissance plane into a no-fly zone over Chinese live-fire military drills on Tuesday. “This is the first time the US has levied any type of economic sanction against Chinese entities for behavior in the South China Sea,” said Greg Poling, a South China Sea expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. Several other firms on the list could not immediately be reached or could not immediately be located.

Source: bd News24 August 26, 2020 18:33 UTC