(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) China is increasing its foothold in contested waters in the Asia-Pacific as Russia increases its activity in the region to near Cold War levels, the top U.S. commander for the Pacific said Wednesday.
Adm. Samuel Locklear, head of Pacific Command, told lawmakers that China's land reclamation projects in the South China Sea provides Beijing with the ability to station ships there, and could provide a pivotal platform for China to establish a potential air defense zone in the region.
China has embarked on massive island creation projects on formerly underwater reefs in the Paracel and Spratly islands. The island chains are located south of the Chinese mainland, sandwiched between Vietnam to the west and the Philippines to the east.
"It allows them to exert, basically, greater influence over what's now a contested area," Locklear said during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia contest the Spratly Islands, while China and Vietnam both claim the Paracel chain.
He said that the countries that claim the islands alongside China have had "little success" in responding to China's actions there, and "None of their efforts have slowed the PRC in the South China Sea," he said referring to China.
"They recognize that stopping the PRC would require a change in the strategic environment down there," he added.
The artificial island creation projects are among the latest moves by China to project power in the region. Beijing declared a unilateral air defense zone over disputed islands held by Japan in the East China Sea in 2013. Neither Tokyo nor Washington recognized the claim.
Regarding Russia, Locklear said that Russian military activity in the region has increased to "nearly a Cold War level of activity that goes towards our homeland."
Locklear said that Moscow is improving its submarine force in the region, increasing exercises, and improving its "strategic nuclear deterrent" on the country's east coast.
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