Stop militarization in disputed sea

The White House pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (Saturday in Manila) to expand his non-militarization pledge to cover the entire West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), despite Beijing’s recent military activity in the area.

Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, spoke amid rising tensions between the two countries over China’s deployment of surface-to-air missiles, radar gear, air strips and fighter jets on an islet there.