BEIJING \u2014 China sought to downplay reports it had positioned anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday accusing the media of hyping the issue and saying more attention should be paid to the “public goods and services” provided by China’s development of its maritime claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said in a statement it had “grasped that Communist\u00a0China\u00a0had deployed” missiles on Woody Island in the Paracel chain. The Philippines said the development increased regional tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move would follow\u00a0China’s\u00a0building of new islands in the disputed sea by piling sand atop reefs and then adding airstrips and military installations. The buildup is seen as part of Beijing’s efforts to claim virtually the entire South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea and its resources, which has prompted some of its wary neighbors to draw closer to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
The most dramatic work has taken place in the Spratly Island group, where the militaries of four nations have a presence, although similar work has also gone on at Woody and other Chinese holdings in the Paracels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The military will pay close attention to subsequent developments,” the Taiwanese ministry statement said. Relevant parties should “work together to maintain peace and stability in the South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea region to refrain from any unilateral measure that would increase tensions,” the statement added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. network Fox News also said\u00a0China\u00a0had moved surface-to-air missiles to the Paracels, identifying them as two batteries of the HQ-9 system, along with radar targeting arrays. The missiles have a range of about 200 kilometers (125 miles), putting all forms of aircraft within reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, did not confirm any missile deployment but said the U.S. was watching closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“While I cannot comment on matters of intelligence, we do watch these matters very closely. The United States continues to call on all claimants to halt land reclamation, construction and militarization of features in the South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea,” Urban said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following talks with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop, Wang said he had become aware of the missile reports just minutes before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We believe this is an attempt by certain Western media to create news stories,” Wang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Echoing claims that the island development was largely civilian oriented and benefited the region, Wang pointed to the construction of lighthouses, weather stations, and rescue and shelter facilities for fishermen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“All of those are actions that\u00a0China, as the biggest littoral state in the South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea, has undertaken to provide more public goods and services to the international community and play its positive role there,” Wang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wang said\u00a0China’s\u00a0construction of military infrastructure was “consistent with the right to self-preservation and self-protection that\u00a0China\u00a0is entitled to under international law, so there should be no question about that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bishop reiterated that, like the U.S., Australia does not take sides on the issue of sovereignty, but urges all sides to maintain peace and stability. Australia welcomes statements by Chinese President Xi Jinping that “China\u00a0does not intend to militarize these islands,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Adm. Harry Harris Jr., the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said he was unable to confirm the missile reports, but added the issue “concerns me greatly.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This could be an indication, if there are missiles there, it could be an indication of militarization of the SouthChina\u00a0Sea in ways that the president of\u00a0China, that President Xi said he would not do,” Harris said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Called Yongxingdao by\u00a0China, Woody island is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. Along with an artificial harbor, it boasts an airport, roads, army posts and other buildings and recent satellite imagery appears to show it is adding a helicopter base likely dedicated to anti-submarine warfare missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taiwan and\u00a0China\u00a0claim almost the whole South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea, including the Paracels. Vietnam and the Philippines have large claims, while Brunei and Malaysia have smaller claims. Home to some of the world’s busiest sea lanes, the South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea is also rich in fisheries and may hold oil and natural gas reserves under the seabed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China’s\u00a0move is likely to rattle Vietnam the most because of its proximity to the Paracels and because of a history of maritime tensions with\u00a0China\u00a0that spiked in 2014 with a standoff after\u00a0China\u00a0moved a massive oil rig there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u00a0regards Australia and the U.S. as unwelcome outside interlopers in regional waters. Wang and Bishop engaged in a testy exchange in December 2013 after Australia criticized\u00a0China’s\u00a0unilateral declaration of an air defense zone in the East\u00a0China\u00a0Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahead of Bishop’s visit, President Barack <\/span>Obama and the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations called Tuesday for the peaceful resolution of the region’s maritime disputes through legal means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obama told a news conference that leaders had discussed, “the need for tangible steps in the South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea to lower tensions, including a halt to further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the deployment of missiles on Woody Island “increases tensions in the South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Analysts say\u00a0China’s\u00a0military moves in the South\u00a0China\u00a0Sea are primarily aimed at intimidating the Philippines and Vietnam, while solidifying its hold on the islands and boosting its ability to project force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is meanwhile strengthening those in the U.S., especially in the Pentagon, who “will want to more vigorously challenge\u00a0China,” said Thomas Berger, an expert on the region at Boston University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jennings reported from Taipei, Taiwan. Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, Tran Van Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Matthew Pennington in Washington also contributed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BEIJING \u2014 China sought to downplay reports it had positioned anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday accusing the media of hyping the issue and saying more attention should be paid to the “public goods and services” provided by China’s development of its maritime claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2200,3294],"class_list":["post-89267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6LDD6FOQJBAWJPUODN6SS2MFTY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2016\/02\/17\/china-foreign-minister-downplays-missile-deployment-reports\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n