U.S. Defense Secretary Says No Need For 'Dramatic' Military Moves In South China Sea

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Saturday played down any need for major U.S. military moves in the South China Sea to contend with China’s assertive behavior, even as he sharply criticized Beijing for “shredding the trust of nations in the region.”

“At this time, we do not see any need for dramatic military moves at all,” Mattis told a joint news conference with his Japanese counterpart Tomomi Inada after a bilateral defense ministerial meeting in Tokyo.

He stressed that the focus should be on diplomacy.

“What we have to do is exhaust all efforts, diplomatic efforts, to try to resolve this properly, maintaining open lines of communication,” Mattis said, in his most complete remarks on the issue to date.

“And certainly our military stance should be one that reinforces our diplomats in this regard. But there is no need right now at this time for military maneuvers or something like that, that would solve something that’s best solved by the diplomats,” he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said in his Senate confirmation hearing that China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea. The White House also vowed to defend “international territories” in the strategic waterway.

But how the United States would achieve that has been unclear, including whether it would have a military dimension.

China claims most of the South China Sea, while Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei claim parts of the waters that command strategic sea lanes and have rich fishing grounds along with oil and gas deposits.