Beijing, Aug. 13 (ANI): China does not want to control the South China Sea in total, but want only 80 percent of the disputed waters, Wu Shicun, the president of a government-sponsored research institute devoted to the strategic waterway whose seabed is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas, said.
Wu is an effective, aggressive advocate for China's longstanding claim over much of the South China Sea, which is in dispute with several other countries in the region.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, China recently positioned a larger group of army personnel and expanded the size of an ostensible legislature to govern a piece of land known as Yongxing Island, more than 320 kilometres south-east of Hainan.Wu, who is the president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies and director general of the Hainan provincial government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the goal of that move is to allow China to "exercise sovereignty over all land features inside the South China Sea," including more than 40 islands "now occupied illegally" by Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Over the past several weeks, China has steadily increased its pressure, sending patrols with bigger ships and issuing persistent warnings in government-controlled newspapers for Washington to stop supporting its Asian friends against China.
The Obama administration, alarmed at China's push, contends that the disputes should be settled by negotiation, and that as one of the most important trade corridors in the world, the South China Sea must enjoy freedom of navigation.
Wu also added that none of China's actions were untoward. (ANI)
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