Upping the ante in the feud over who is responsible for rising tensions in the South China Sea, China on Wednesday said repeated U.S. Navy patrols in the area are forcing it to boost the defense capabilities of the islands it controls and may require it to launch more air and sea patrols.
In a strongly worded statement, the Defense Ministry said it deployed two navy fighter jets, one early warning aircraft and three ships to track and warn-off the destroyer USS William P. Lawrence as it passed nearby Fiery Cross Reef on Tuesday.
"The provocative actions by American military ships and planes lay bare the U.S. designs to seek gain by creating chaos in the region and again testify to the total correctness and utter necessity of China's construction of defensive facilities on relevant islands," the ministry said.
