The goal of the trip will be to put in place the necessary systems for crisis communications, said Mark Esper (File)
Washington:
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday he plans to visit China this year, as Washington takes a tougher stance against Beijing in the contested South China Sea.
Esper said he had spoken to his Chinese counterpart on several occasions and hoped to make the trip by the end of the year.
He told a security seminar that one of the goals of the trip would be “to establish the necessary systems for crisis communications and strengthen our intentions to compete openly in the international system to which we all belong.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said the United States would treat Beijing’s search for resources in the South China Sea as illegal, increasing support for Southeast Asian countries with competing demands and triggering a Beijing’s furious reaction.
It was the latest forceful statement from President Donald Trump’s administration to challenge China, which he increasingly called an enemy ahead of the November election.
“We are clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea are completely illegal, as is its campaign of intimidation to control them,” Pompeo said in a statement.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
