US military in South China Sea not good for peace, says Beijing

Beijing, January 25

The US often sends ships and aircraft into the South China Sea to flex its muscles and this is not good for peace, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday, after a US aircraft carrier group sailed into the disputed waterway.

The strategic South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade flows each year, has long been a focus of contention between Beijing and Washington, with China particularly angered by US military activity there.

‘Taiwan inalienable’

The US frequently sends aircraft and vessels to flex its muscles. Taiwan is our inalienable part and the US should abide by the one-China principle. —Zhao Lijian, spokesman, China foreign ministry

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The US carrier group, led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt and accompanied by three warships, entered the waterway on Saturday to promote freedom of the seas, the US military said, just days after Joe Biden became US President.

“The United States frequently sends aircraft and vessels into the South China Sea to flex its muscles,” the foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said. China has repeatedly complained about US Navy ships getting close to islands it occupies in the South China Sea. — Reuters