Chinese Maritime Militia vessels are pictured near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

 The U.S. poses the largest security challenge in the South China Sea as its military deployment there is turning it into "the whirlpool of an arms race", Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong said in remarks published on Sunday.

Recent maritime run-ins between China and the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, have made the highly strategic South China Sea a potential flashpoint between Washington and Beijing.

"At present, the biggest security challenge in the South China Sea comes from outside the region," Sun said in comments published by his ministry, after attending a high-level meeting on East Asian cooperation in Laos.

Sun said U.S.-led forces were "promoting military deployment and actions in the South China Sea, inciting and intensifying maritime disputes and contradictions, and damaging the legitimate rights and interests of coastal countries".

A move by the United States to deploy medium-range missile systems in the area "is dragging the region into the whirlpool of an arms race, placing the entire Asia Pacific region under the shadow of geopolitical conflicts", Sun said.

China is committed to properly managing disputes with the parties in the South China Sea through dialogue, he added.

In April, the Philippines said during a meeting with U.S. allies that it was determined to assert its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, accusing China of escalating "its harassment" of the Philippines.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce, and has deployed hundreds of coast guard vessels as far as 1,000 km off its mainland to police what it says is its jurisdiction.

The Philippines and China have sparred repeatedly this past year near disputed features that fall within Manila's exclusive economic zone. China routinely accuses the Philippines of encroachment while Manila and its allies have condemned what they call aggression by Beijing.

The United States has said it stands with Manila.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

Philippines asserts security independence amid South China Sea tension

The Philippines will continue to maintain and supply its outposts in the South China Sea without seeking permission from any other country, the country's national security adviser said.

The Philippines national security council said on Saturday it reaffirmed its commitment to uphold its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Second Thomas Shoal.

"Our operations are conducted within our own territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, and we will not be deterred by foreign interference or intimidation," said National Security Adviser Secretary Eduardo Ano.

The Philippine agency issued a statement in response to China's suggestion that the Philippines must first notify Beijing over access.

China's foreign ministry said on Friday it will allow the Philippines to deliver supplies and evacuate personnel if Manila notifies Beijing in advance.

Ano described such suggestions as "absurd, nonsense and unacceptable".

He added: "We do not and will never need China's approval for any of our activities therein."

But the Philippines remains open to dialogue and peaceful negotiations to resolve disputes in the entire South China Sea, the council said.

The Philippine coastguard on Friday accused its Chinese counterpart of blocking efforts to evacuate a sick member of its armed forces in the South China Sea.

It was the latest dispute in a longstanding territorial spat with China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said China's claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT