By Patricia Lourdes Viray
MANILA, Philippines — United States President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state sees the need to send a clear signal against China's island-building activities in the South China Sea.
Rex Tillerson said that China's island building in the disputed waters has to stop.
In his confirmation hearing, Tillerson likened China's activities in the disputed South China Sea to Russia's annexation of Crimea.
He said that China's actions are "extremely worrisome" and that the failure of the US to respond "has allowed them to keep pushing the envelope."
Trump's nominee noted that the US should back up its allies in the region and use the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to send such message to China.
"We're going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed," Tillerson said, in a statement rarely heard even among proponents of a more hawkish US position in the sea row.
Tillerson's remarks are sure to anger China, which claims sovereignty over much of the South China Sea.
Read the full story at The Philippine Star