By Zachary Keck
The ever-exciting South China Sea took on a new twist this weekend with the U.S. and China trading strongly worded statements.
The dispute was prompted by a U.S. statement on Friday, which was credited to acting Deputy State Department Spokesman, Patrick Ventrell.
The statement began by reaffirming that the U.S. has a “national interest in the maintenance of peace and stability, respect for international law, freedom of navigation, and unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea,” something Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared at the ASEAN Regional Forum two years ago. It then expressed concern at what it claimed was “an uptick in confrontational rhetoric, disagreements over resource exploitation, coercive economic actions, and the incidents around the Scarborough Reef, including the use of barriers to deny access.” Controversially, the next sentence singled out China, “in particular,” and even more specifically Beijing’s recent establishment of the “Sansha City” administrative body and corresponding military garrison.
Read the full story at The Diplomat