United States Secretary of State John Kerry has told Chinese officials that Washington will launch countermeasures if Beijing takes further provocative acts in the South China Sea, US diplomatic sources said Thursday.
If Beijing unilaterally declares an air defense identification zone over the disputed waters, for example, “It will force our hand,” Kerry was quoted by one of the sources as saying during the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue on June 5-7 in Beijing.
Kerry stopped short of saying what kind of countermeasures he has in mind. But he appears to have signaled actions such as strengthening US freedom of navigation operations and the deployment of US military units in the South China Sea.
Kerry also demanded that China abide by a ruling that a UN-backed arbitral tribunal will hand down on July 12 regarding the legitimacy of Beijing’s claims to almost the whole South China Sea, according to the sources.
“The world is watching” China’s response to the ruling to be issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Kerry was quoted by the source as saying.
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