PRESS RELEASE

---

Senators Demand U.S. Confrontation with China in South China Sea

March 23, 2014 (EIRNS)—Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations and Senate Armed Services Committees respectively, and their ranking Democrats, Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Jack Reed (R.I.) sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, last week, demanding a strategy from the Obama Administration for confronting China in the South China Sea.

The four senators, alarmed by Chinese construction activities in the Spratly Islands, call for a "comprehensive strategy" to counter these land reclamation efforts. Without such a plan, "long-standing interests of the United States, as well as our allies and partners, stand at considerable risk." The letter called for a strategy to establish "specific actions the United States can take to slow down or stop China’s reclamation activities" "We have a right to do this," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in response to the Senators’ letter, reports Sputnik.