Special to WorldTribune.com

Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring, Washington Times

The commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said recently if China continues aggressive activities in the South China Sea he may cancel participation by the People’s Liberation Army in large-scale naval exercises known as Rimpac, for Rim of the Pacific.

Adm. Harry Harris, the newly installed Pacific commander, made the comments in a recent meeting in Tokyo with reporters.

China’s island building in the strategic South China Sea, where some 2,000 acres of islands were created, “increases the challenge for all of us and makes it more important than ever that we continue to confront China on the issue,” Adm. Harris said. His remarks were reported Monday by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

The four-star admiral further criticized Chinese aggression, noting, “you don’t build sovereignty on ‘castles of sand.’ Sovereignty must be based on rules, norms and international law.” Most of the islands being built are located on the Spratlys Islands in the southern part of the sea that are claimed by Philippines and other regional states. U.S. officials have said China is now building military facilities, including a runway, and is deploying weapons on the new islands, something Defense Secretary Ashton Carter recently denounced and urged China to stop.

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