Chinese weapons spotted on disputed island: US
May 30, 2015 09:58
The United States has spotted a pair of mobile artillery vehicles on an artificial island that China is building in the South China Sea, a resource-rich stretch of ocean crossed by vital shipping lanes, US officials told The New York Times.
China's construction programme on previously uninhabited atolls and reefs in the Spratly Islands has already raised alarm and drawn protests from other countries in the region, whose claims to parts of the South China Sea overlap China's.
Defence Secretary Ash Carter called this week for China to halt the construction, saying that international law did not recognise Chinese claims of sovereignty over the new territories and that US warships and military aircraft would continue to operate in the area.
China's construction programme on previously uninhabited atolls and reefs in the Spratly Islands has already raised alarm and drawn protests from other countries in the region, whose claims to parts of the South China Sea overlap China's.
Defence Secretary Ash Carter called this week for China to halt the construction, saying that international law did not recognise Chinese claims of sovereignty over the new territories and that US warships and military aircraft would continue to operate in the area.
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