WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on tensions between the U.S. and China (all times local):
9:55 a.m.
Republican Sen. John McCain says China is behaving like a “bully” in the Asia-Pacific.
McCain says the Obama administration’s “risk aversion” has failed to prevent China’s coercive behavior in the disputed South China Sea. He is calling for the U.S. to step up freedom of navigation operations in the region.
McCain was speaking at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee that he chairs. The committee was taking testimony from the commanders of U.S. forces in the Pacific and Korea.
Top-ranking Democrat on the committee, Sen. Jack Reed, also said it seems clear that China does not intend to be a “responsible stakeholder” in the region.
Both lawmakers cited think tank reports that China has deployed high-frequency radar on reclaimed land in the Spratly island chain.
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4:12 a.m.
The top U.S. and Chinese diplomats meet Tuesday in Washington at a fraught time in relations between the two world powers.
It’s been seven weeks since North Korea’s conducted a nuclear test and they still haven’t agreed on how to censure Pyongyang.
Also, tensions are rising in the South China Sea after Beijing deployed anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed island.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (WAHNG YEE) sparred over much of the same territory a month ago in Beijing. But as they sit down for more talks at the State Department, both situations have only grown more serious.