US Plans More Asia-Pacific Drills to Counter Beijing’s Reclamation in South China Sea

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuJ3_YQAbHA]

• Published on Aug 26, 2015
  The United States plans to conduct more military drills in the Asia-Pacific region in what is seen as a strategy to counter Beijing’s rapid expansion in the South China Sea. The US and the Philippines are discussing to increase the size, frequency and sophistication of exercises in the region based on a new plan called the Asia Pacific Maritime Security Strategy. China claims most of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims. China has reclaimed more than one-thousand hectares of land in the region since June. Officials in Beijing say the reclaimed land will be used to host outposts that will be used for undefined military purposes, as well as help with maritime search and rescue operations.

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