US will have to 'wage war' to block Beijing's access to South China Sea islands: Chinese daily

The United States will have to "wage a large-scale war" with China if it wants to block the latter's access to the South China Sea islands, a Chinese state-run newspaper editorial said on Friday (January 13). The statement came a couple of days after US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said the Asian power should not be allowed access to the islands in the disputed sea in eastern Asia.

China should be denied access to South China Sea islands: Trump's Secretary of State-pick Tillerson

During his confirmation hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tillerson said China's construction and installing of military assets in the South China Sea was almost similar to "Russia's taking Crimea" from Ukraine. He also wanted to send a clear signal to Beijing that its access to the artificial islands in the disputed waters "is not going to be allowed".

Responding to Tillerson's views, the Global Times said in an English-language editorial titled 'Is Tillerson's bluster just a bluff for Senate?' said the US would have to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea to prevent China from accessing the islands.

"Tillerson had better bone up on nuclear power strategies if he wants to force a big nuclear power to withdraw from its own territories," the piece said. Although the daily does not reflect Chinese policy, it is published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship paper People's Daily.

"It is suspected that he merely wanted to curry favour from senators and increase his chances of being confirmed by intentionally showing a tough stance toward China," the editorial added.

It also said that Tillerson, former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman and CEO, was the most likely of Trump's Cabinet picks to be vetoed by the Senate.

The South China Sea dispute involves islands and maritime claims in the region among several sovereign states besides China, like Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam. Many international non-claimant nations, however, want the South China Sea to remain as international waters considering the fact that a high proportion of the world's trade passes through this region.

In December, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), an American think-thank, cited satellite images to back claims that China was installing a weapons system on these artificial islands. It said the system installed on the islands include anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems. The CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative claimed to have found evidence of a weapons system on the islands despite China denying any intention to militarise the region.