The New York Times reports: "A senior American naval commander has implicitly accused China of creating 'so-called military zones' close to artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea, declaring that such actions are eroding the security of one of the world's busiest waterways...Admiral Swift, who visited China last month, said that routine commercial and military operations in the South China Sea had become subject to warnings, interrupting the freedom of navigation, as well as air rights, to such an extent that the 'unilateral assertiveness' was becoming a trend that was 'unacceptable.'"
The Wall Street Journal reports: "To Western critics, China's international diplomacy is a mess of contradictions. It craves respect yet shuns responsibility. It wants a seat at the table with rich nations, but can't abandon a developing-economy mind-set. A frustrated President Obama has labeled Beijing a 'free rider.' But change is on the way. From regional security to global finance, China is announcing its intention to lead; the key role it played in the successful conclusion last week of climate-change talks in Paris is just the latest evidence of Beijing's growing ambition."
TIME reports: "A restaurant in the Chinese city of Zhangjiagang has been caught charging customers a 'clean-air fee' after it installed an air-filtering system in response to the blankets of thick smog that have shrouded the city in recent weeks. The owner decided to place the burden of the cost on customers by charging them 1 yuan ($0.15) on top of their bill, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reports."