Now Xi Jinping’s military has sent a fearsome warning to President Donald Trump and his representatives in Washington. US military said they twice sailed ships in the periphery of islands claimed by China as they sought to assert their authority in the region where a number of smaller nations also have claims for ownership of waters.
One of these islands was Mischief Reef, where littoral combat ship Gabrielle Giffords traveled within 12 nautical miles of the eastern Spratly Islands, which China, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines all claim sovereignty over.
But the Chinese government sent a defiant warning to Washington, urging the US to stop its patrols in a furious statement.
A spokesman for China’s Southern Theatre Command (military) said in a statement: “We urge [the US] to stop these provocative actions to avoid any unforeseeable accidents.
“China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and its surrounding area.”
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper has been visiting representatives from the countries embroiled in the dispute, including Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe earlier this week for talks on the sidelines of a gathering of defence ministers in Bangkok.
Wei urged Mr Esper to “stop flexing muscles in the South China Sea and to not provoke and escalate tensions in the South China Sea” a Chinese spokesman said.
In response, Mr Esper accused Beijing of “increasingly resorting to coercion and intimidation to advance its strategic objectives” in the region.
China has remained stubborn in its efforts to claim authority over the South China Sea, defying international tribunal rulings and its aggrieved neighbours in its advocacy for its Nine-Dash Line claim.
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A Chinese oil survey vessel – The Haiyang Dizhi 8 – only recently pulled away from Vietnam’s economic exclusion zone after three months of resource exploration.
Beijing tried to pressure Vietnam into halting its exploration of seas and resources in contested waters, but in July China sent fleets to the Vanguard Bank, an area that also lies in the Vietnam EEZ.
Occupying the Vanguard bank meant Chinese ships would no longer need to return to mainland China for refuelling and maintenance during journeys into the South China Sea, but the move has angered those in Hanoi.
However, the US has stepped in to help the Vietnamese who have previously been reluctant to cooperate with second countries due to their ‘Three Noes’ foreign policy – no alliances, no bases, and no working with a second country against a third.
Washington has agreed to give Vietnam a coastal patrol cutter in an effort to bolster Hanoi’s ability to thwart Chinese encroachment.