OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment and fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby, a top US military commander said Sunday.
US Indo-Pacific commander Admiral John Aquilino said the hostile actions were in stark contrast to Chinese President Xi Jinping's past assurances that Beijing would not transform the artificial islands in contested waters into military bases. The efforts were part of China's flexing its military muscle, he said.
Admiral John C. Aquilino, left, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), looks at videos of Chinese structures and buildings on board a US P-8A Poseidon reconaissance plane flying at the Spratlys group of islands in the South China Sea on Sunday March 20, 2022. A U.S. Navy plane carrying a top American military commander was threatened repeatedly by radio on Sunday to leave the airspace over Chinese-occupied island garrisons in the disputed South China Sea, but the aircraft pressed on defiantly with its reconnaissance in brief but tense standoffs witnessed by two Associated Press journalists invited onboard. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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