WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Pentagon is planning to conduct more regular patrols in the South China Sea—as many as two to three a month—to assert freedom of navigation in disputed waters claimed by China, the Wall Street Journal reported. Future patrols also could include US military aircraft as well as US Navy warships, the Journal said. During the Obama administration, the US Navy conducted four such operations in the South China Sea, where China has asserted its claims by building artificial islands and establishing runways, ports and other facilities on them. China claims nearly all of the sea, through which $5 trillion in annual shipping trade passes and which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits. Washington and Beijing have seen their relations grow increasingly fraught since a promising summit between Trump and China’s Xi Jinping in April.

Source: Manila Times September 02, 2017 06:45 UTC