By Sarah Hooper
TENSIONS between the United States and China are simmering as the US stepped up military exercises in the South China Sea this week.
The exercises come as the US shot down another “high-altitude object” flying over Lake Huron near Michigan today.
The highly-contested waters of the South China Sea have seen military drills in the past[/caption]
The latest rounds are routine, sources say[/caption]
The Navy and Marines will host exercises involving ships, ground forces and aircraft but gave no details on when they began or whether they had ended.
The exercises come as tensions between Washington and Beijing are heightened following the shooting down of a spy balloon last month.
The spy balloon was dramatically shot down by two F-22 fighter jets off of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina after drifting across the continental US.
China has slammed the government’s decision to shoot down what it calls a “civilian aircraft”.
Earlier today, China revealed an unidentified object was floating near the coastal city of Rizhao, and the military has planned to shoot it down.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled his trip to China after the surveillance craft was spotted over the US.
Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe has apparently refused to speak with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin about the balloon.
The Pentagon said the shot-down balloon was part of a surveillance program that China has been conducting for several years.
Balloons have flown over five continents in recent years, sparking international outrage.
Yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that an object was shot down after “violating Canadian airspace”.
The UK Defence Secretary said he believes a Chinese balloon has probably circled the UK, and he would have shot it down too.
Ben Wallace said it was “not unusual” for satellites to float around high in the sky and they have done for years.
China claims ownership of the South China Sea and has protested to military activity by other nations in the contested waterway.
£4trillion in goods are shipped every year through the massive water way, which has been a source of contention in the past.
The US takes no official position on sovereignty in the South China Sea, but maintains that freedom of navigation and overflight must be preserved.
China has worried other countries after photos of highly militarised war islands in the South China Sea were revealed in November.
The surveillance photos reveal islands armed to the teeth with deadly hardware including missile aircraft, flight hangars, and spy planes.
Chinese President Xi Jinping formerly denied plans to militarise islands in the South China sea, but photos in 2018 showed China was building enormous military bases on the islands, with radar stations, communications towers, fast attack boats, and helipads.
Clashes in the South China Sea have increased exponentially in the last decade.
China seized a shoal from the Philippines in 2012, engaged in a tense standoff with Vietnam over oil in 2014, and had a three-way row with Malaysia and Vietnam over the deployment of a Malaysian drillship to the sea in 2019.
Neighbouring Taiwan has observed dozens of Chinese military balloon flights in its airspace in recent years, raising concerns of an attack from Beijing.
A senior Taiwanese official told the Financial Times: “They come very frequently, the last one just a few weeks ago.”
In March, U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Admiral John Aquilino said the U.S. had intelligence that China had fully militarised three islands in the South China Sea.
He cited it as the “largest military build-up since World War II by the PRC (People’s Republic of China)”.
Tensions have been simmering since the US shot down a Chinese balloon last month[/caption]
It’s unclear when the drills will finish[/caption]
The military drills will continue despite rising tensions[/caption]
Aircraft carriers often pass through the busy trade route[/caption]
Category: News, World News, Nuclear Weapons
