‘China should not be allowed access to artificial islands’

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Donald Trump’s secretary of state pick Rex Tillerson hit out at China Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) during his Senate confirmation hearing, warning the US would send a “clear signal” that the Asian giant must abandon its artificial islands in the South China Sea.

“We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands is also not going to be allowed,” Tillerson told a US Senate committee.