US official justifies spying flights in East Asia

Last month, China called on the United States to halt spying flights in East Asia if it wanted to repair the damaged ties between Beijing and Washington.
 
The request followed an August 19 incident in which the Pentagon said that a Chinese military jet made several close passes near a US Navy plane, coming within 30 feet (9 meters) of it at one point.
 
On Friday, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Russel tried to justify close surveillance by patrol aircraft, pointing to alleged Chinese military buildup and the lack of transparency surrounding it.
 
"We have the right to conduct legitimate missions outside of China’s territorial space and there is a persuasive rational for doing so," he told the Reuters news agency.
 
"Frankly, the lack of transparency in China's military modernization is the source of some concern to its neighbors. And we believe that all of the region, including China, would benefit from increased transparency," he added.
 
"It's generating questions and concerns in the region – is China planning to build military bases; is China using reclaimed land on these shoals for the purpose of extending its reach and trying to create a de-facto answer to the question of who has sovereignty of the various land features?" he claimed.
 
Beijing claims the South China Sea in its entirety, while other countries including the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam also have claims to the area and are in dispute with China.
 
China and Japan have long been locked in a dispute for more than a decade over the sovereignty of uninhabited islands in the South China Sea - what are called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan - which are believed to have vast natural resources.
 
Russel said that the Chinese are destabilizing “the situation and make it harder, not easier, for the claimants to resolve their claims peacefully."
 
Last week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry criticized the US government for interfering in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
 
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop in Sydney that his country does not want countries outside the territories show concern about the issue, without directly naming the US.
 
Wang also expressed hope that “these countries play a constructive role rather than add trouble,” adding that Beijing and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations can resolve the disputes and maintain freedom of navigation in one of the world’s busiest waterways.