Update | China may send anti-ship missiles to disputed South China Sea to beef up defence: analysts
Air defences the main priority for Chinese forces in the region and more advanced weaponry will strengthen Beijing’s position, experts say
China may deploy more advanced weapons – such as anti-ship missiles – in the South China Sea, analysts say, amid criticism that Beijing has been militarising the disputed region.
The plan would allow Beijing to beef up its defence and monitoring in the waters, deterring potential adversaries in a crisis, the analysts say.
Recent reports that Beijing had installed an advanced surface-to-air missile system on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands chain prompted protests from the United States, further straining already tense ties.
“It’s of serious concern. We’ve had these conversations with the Chinese, and I am confident that over the next days we will have further, very serious conversation on this,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. But Beijing said any military facility on the disputed islands was for self-defence.
Such installations were necessary because of increasing threats from the US, Chinese observers said. They also saw Beijing’s move as a response to patrols by US warships in waters close to Chinese-controlled islands, one of them near Woody Island.
Watch: China defends actions on disputed island
