At security summit, Beijing vows to ignore pending international court ruling while US steps up military patrols.
Published by Al Jazeera English, June 5, 2016
By Tom Benner
Singapore – Asia’s largest defence summit concluded on Sunday amid growing fears of a legal and military showdown in the South China Sea over China’s rapid construction of artificial islands with ports, airstrips and helipads in one of the world’s most bitterly contested waterways.
Admiral Sun Jianguo of the People’s Liberation Army
At the weekend-long Shangri-La Dialogue , Chinese military officials vowed to ignore a legal ruling expected in the next few weeks by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on a Philippines’ challenge to China’s growing assertiveness in the key sea route between the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
“We do not make trouble, but we have no fear of trouble,” said Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army, who led the Chinese delegation at the summit.
Sun added: “China will not bear with the arbitration award, nor will it allow any infringement of its sovereignty.” Continue reading …
Tom Benner Reports 