US plans patrols around Chinese-built islands in the South China Sea

The Pentagon is planning to conduct military aircraft patrols around islands that China is reclaiming in the Spratly Islands.

According to Sputnik News, this move by the US shows that tensions in the East Sea are "heating up every day".

China conducts reclamation on Van Khanh Reef (Photo: Reuters)

China is currently reclaiming many reefs into artificial islands in the Spratly Islands and building airfields and military bases on them, which has raised concerns among US military officials that Beijing is plotting to seize strategic sea lanes in the region.

Previously, the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Harris Jr., accused that, “China is erasing the natural landscape on those reefs by building a Great Wall of sand here. Over the past several months, they have continuously used dredgers and bulldozers to renovate the reefs.”

Meanwhile, China has asserted that it has the right to reclaim reefs that it blatantly claims are “in its territory” and asserted that the bases built there will serve the purposes of disaster relief, scientific research and ensuring maritime security.

However, according to Sputnik News, those words did not convince Washington and Pentagon officials revealed that the US will soon send military aircraft and naval ships to the area to ensure freedom of navigation around the aforementioned reefs.

“We are looking at how to ensure freedom of navigation in an area that is critical to global trade. The United States and its allies have a diametrically opposed view of the rules that should be followed in this waterway,” a US official said.

The official added that US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has submitted to the US government a draft that proposes that the US military could send ships and planes to waters about 12 nautical miles from the reefs that China is reclaiming.

Washington is also taking steps to strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific. Admiral Harris Jr. announced in March that the US Navy would deploy up to 60 percent of its fleet to the Pacific by 2020 and increase cooperation with India.

In addition, earlier this year, the US Navy admitted to using its most modern reconnaissance aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon, to patrol the area off the coast of the Philippines. The US P-8A Poseidon aircraft is capable of hunting submarines as well as attacking surface targets.

Last March, the US Senate called on the US government to adopt a strategy to deal with China's wrongdoings in the region.

Japan has also shown its support for the Philippines and the US after conducting joint exercises with the Philippines and Tokyo announced it would participate in joint maritime patrols with the US./.

According to VOV