China claims it has a historic right of ownership to almost the entire South China Sea, despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling saying Beijing’s claim had no legal basis under international law. But the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims to parts of it. DWF’s Head of Transport, Jonathan Moss, has explained China’s presence puts rival nations on alert due as they don’t “share the same firepower”.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Moss said: “It covers 1.4million square miles, there’s fish, there are potentially billions of barrels of untapped oil.
“There’s $3.7billion of trade passing through the South China Sea.
“It’s obviously a very rich area for resources and minerals and then you’ve got the historic complexities and the sensitives.
“In 1937, Japan invaded certain islands and in 1947, there was a declaration that the South China Sea islands belonged to China.
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“From about the 1970s onwards, China’s been building airfields, artificial harbours.
“There’s been the disputes between Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and China.
“They are at a loss because they don’t share the same firepower as China.”
Mr Moss also noted there is a real risk of further conflict in the waters.
It comes as senior Trump officials launch diplomatic and rhetorical broadsides at Beijing, the US Defense Department is turning to the firepower of its heavily armed, long-range bombers as it seeks to counter Beijing’s bid to control the seas off the Chinese coast.
Since late January, American B-1B and B-52 bombers, usually operating in pairs, have flown about 20 missions over key waterways, including the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan, according to accounts of these flights from US Air Force statements and official social media posts.
These missions, military analysts say, are designed to send a crystal-clear signal: The United States can threaten China’s fleet and Chinese land targets at any time, from distant bases, without having to move America’s aircraft carriers and other expensive surface warships within range of Beijing’s massive arsenal of missiles.
In this response to the growing power of China’s military, the Pentagon has combined some of its oldest weapons with some of its newest: Cold War-era bombers and cutting-edge, stealthy missiles.