China Blames US for Rising Tension in South China Sea

China has blamed the United States for rising tensions in the South China Sea because the United States has increased naval and air patrols while China continues to make artificial islands, some of which house military equipment.

Reuters reports that the Chinese Defense Ministry accused the United States of ratcheting up tensions by holding military exercises with U.S. allies in the region who have claims to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, such as the Philippines. Other nations with claims in the area are Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Taiwan.

The Defense Ministry also took exception to media reports that Philippine fishermen had found Chinese fishing nets and took them out of the water. The ministry is of the opinion this is theft and that the nets were placed legally within Chinese waters.

Vietnam has also begun its own land reclamation efforts on reefs and atolls in the region, but their actions have not been on a scale as large as China's and have not proceeded as quickly. China has already built one island with an airstrip large enough to accommodate every aircraft in the Chinese air force.

China bases its claims to the islands on a map of the ancient Chinese empire which include a "9 dash" line that reaches all the way from China to past the southern outskirts of the contested islands. International law recognizes a country's territorial claims to land and waters 250 miles from their coast line, but in China's case, the islands and waters are more than 600 miles the Chinese mainland and islands under their control according to international law.