 |
| China's Artificial Island at Fiery Cross Reef as of Sep 2015 |
David Larter, Navy Times
The Marine Corps' top officer took a thinly veiled swipe at China's activities in the South China Sea, implying that they're upsetting regional stability three days after the release of a Pentagon report that detailed China's island-building strategy and aims.
Gen. Robert Neller, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said that "certain nations" were furthering their interests in the South China Sea by pushing boundaries but carefully avoiding sparking a conflict.
"Certain nations kind of take advantage or do things that are short of conflict," Neller said at a panel discussion Monday at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space exposition. "They are very subtle and very calculated, but they don't support the stability of the region."
Neller said the U.S. would continue to support international law while trying to build trust with the nations in the Asia-Pacific region; China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, with increasing worries they are militarizing the islands to back up those claims.
"We are a nation of laws, we go out and do what we do to support international law," Neller continued. "What we cannot do is stop talking, even if we disagree. There may be actors who would potentially do some things that we don't agree with and we need to maintain communication with them. And tell them that their actions are potentially disruptive to the stability of the world."
Read the full story at DefenseNews