The head of U.S. Pacific Command defended Washington’s position on the South China Sea on Tuesday even as he called for stronger military-to-military exchanges with Beijing, amid signs that both sides are trying to tamp down tensions over Beijing’s territorial claims.
Adm. Harry Harris appeared at the Stanford Center at Peking University in Beijing as part of a visit to Asia taking place as the U.S. and Chinese governments square off over a chain of islands in the South China Sea.
Last week, the U.S. conducted a Navy patrol of the Spratly Islands, sailing within 12 nautical miles of one artificial island, Subi Reef, that is claimed by Beijing. The patrol by a U.S. Navy destroyer, known as a freedom of navigation operation, sent a signal to Beijing that the U.S. wouldn’t recognize a claim to territorial waters around artificial islands China has built on reefs that it controls.
