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| Adm. Harry Harris (Image: Wiki Commons) |
The U.S. military’s top commander is pushing for a more confrontational approach to counter China’s strategic gains in the West Philippine Sea, appeals that he have met resistance from the White House at almost every turn.
Adm. Harry Harris is proposing U.S. to respond forcefully to China’s island-building that may include launching aircraft and conducting military operations within 12 miles of these man-made islands, as part of an effort to stop what he has called the “Great Wall of Sand” before it extends within 140 miles from the Philippines’ capital, sources say.
A persistent campaign in public and in private have been waged by Harris and his U.S. Pacific Command over the past several months to raise the profile of China’s land grab, accusing China outright in February of militarizing the West Philippine Sea.
Read the full story at Tankler