A US warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on a “routine” transit for the second time in a month, the US military said on Friday, hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of taking advantage of the world’s focus on the Covid-19 pandemic to push its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.
Pompeo’s statement spotlights Beijing’s effort to push the envelope in the South China Sea where its territorial claims conflict with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
At a video interaction with ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations grouping to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, Pompeo pointed to China’s announcement of administrative districts over disputed islands and maritime areas in the South China Sea and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel earlier this month.
“Beijing has moved to take advantage of the (Covid-19) distraction,” Pompeo said, accusing China of deploying militarised ships to intimidate others from developing offshore gas and oil projects.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea and the islands and reefs that dot it. Earlier this month, Beijing announced setting up two districts to administer islands and reefs of Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands to strengthen its claim to sovereignty over the area.Besides, state-run ONGC Videsh is also engaged in oil and gas production in cooperation with Vietnam and is directly impacted by China’s efforts to militarise the South China Sea.