SYDNEY, Australia: This week, Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said China is trying to gain territorial space through force through its actions in the South China Sea, which are destabilizing the region.
A series of recent maritime run-ins between the Philippines and China have involved water cannons and heated verbal exchanges.
In an address to the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney, Aquilino said that China’s actions against the Philippines, most notably in the Second Thomas Shoal, were “dangerous, illegal, and they are destabilizing the region.”
He was “very concerned about what is happening at the Second Thomas Shoal,” where the physical actions of the Chinese coast guard against a fishing vessel resulted in six sailors being injured, he added.
He further added that similar actions by China were also being seen elsewhere in the region, including in Japan and Malaysia.
“This is not isolated, this is about the PRC (People’s Republic of China) trying to gain territorial space unilaterally through force,” Aquilino said.
Enforced by an armada of coastguard vessels, China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory, spanning more than 620 miles from its mainland. It has maintained that its actions against Philippine encroachment have been appropriate.
