China has built the third runway on Vietnam's Subi Reef in Truong Sa. Satellite photo by CICS on Sept. 3, 2015.

They agreed that the two sides should jointly implement the common understanding reached between the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama, promoting the healthy and stable Sino - US relations.

Tony Blinken previously went to Japan and South Korea to meet with Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki and South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong to discuss the issues of common interests.

Also on the 8th of October, Blinken met with the Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Fang Fenghui in Beijing and they pledged to promote the new-style military cooperation between the two countries.

On the 11th of October, the Want Daily (Taiwan) reported that, in a close international seminar on the East Sea held in Taipei on October 7th and 8th, Chinese and Taiwanese scholars discussed finding ways to solve the lawsuit of the Philippines against China. This happened when the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, the Netherlands scheduled to give its first judgment on this case in the next few weeks.

The Want Daily said that Beijing planned to invite scholars of Taiwan and some other countries and territories to study China’s absurd claims in the East Sea. The Nanjing University has established the new Center for East Sea Studies. Its director is Professor Zhu Feng from the Beijing University and the Deputy Director is the Director of the Institute for East Sea Studies of Hainan Province.

On the 9th of October, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying argued for the illegal construction of two lighthouses on Chau Vien (Cuarteron) Reef in Vietnam’s Truong Sa Archipelago (internationally known as Spratly Islands).

According to Hua Chunying, the East Sea is a vital international maritime route so the two lighthouses would serve to guide the way for vessels passing the Spratly area, enhancing maritime security in the East Sea!

She was blatantly claimed that in the future, China would continue to build civil works on the rocks of the Spratlys Islands, "to better serve" the countries bordering the East Sea and the ships passing the area.

On October 8th, The Inquirer quoted Mr. Roilo Golez, former Philippines’ National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Movement and Alliance to Resist China’s Aggression or MARCHA in the Philippines in a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, asking the UN to investigate China’s environmental destruction in the East Sea.

Also on October 8th, the Philstar newspaper quoted Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio of the Philippines as saying that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) will be useless if it is not applied in the East Sea, when China’s absurd "cow tongue" claim that covers almost the entire East Sea is not handled in accordance with the UNCLOS. 

The Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr. said that maritime security in the East Sea will continue to affect Sino - American ties as well as with neighboring countries.

On the 10th of October, Newsweek commented on why China had not de-escalated in the East Sea, and also said that Beijing would "rationalize" over 209 entities in the East Sea which are still vacant and this may take place within 18 months! Scholar Bill Bishop, an expert on China, also expressed concern about the extremist nationalism and the increasing "muscle flexing" trend of China.

Speaking at the 2015 Pacific conference in Sydney on October 7th, new Defense Minister of Australia Marise Payne declared that the government of Prime Minister Turnbull maintains a tough stance against unjustified claims of China in the East Sea.

Australia vehemently opposed these acts of intimidation, aggression or coercion to claim sovereignty to unilaterally change the status quo. On October 8th, The Sunday Age cited Ms. Marise Payne’s warning against unilateral moves to change the status quo in the East Sea of China.

On the 6th of October, China’s Reference News quoted information from American newspapers as saying that Beijing is incapable of manufacturing aircraft carriers with nuclear engines. Meanwhile, international opinion said that China’s first domestically-manufactured carrier Type 001A may be launched on December 26th 2015, to commemorate the 122nd birthday of Chairman Mao Zedong.

China Daily has revealed the technical characteristics of the stealth fighter of the 5th generation J-31, the product of the Aviation General Company of China (Avic), the competitor of the stealth fighter F-35 of Lockheed Martin (USA). J-31 is the second generation spy plane of China.

On October 7th, the China Reference News cited information from the Jamestown Foundation website as saying that China is seeking to build a strategic air force.

According to the Washington Post, the US will not accept China deliberately escalating tensions in the region, and will not recognize the illegal claims of Beijing for most of the East Sea.

According to US Navy spokesman William Marks, though the US did not have specific plans on sending ships to the islands in the East Sea, the US will travel in international waters of the East Sea in accordance with international regulations on maritime.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Pentagon Bill Urban said, America is present and active in the East Sea and East China Sea. The US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter stated that he felt secure knowing that these plans were being considered.

On the 10th of October, scholar Jerry Hendrix from the Center for a New American Security told The Wall Street Journal that the 12 nautical mile area around the reefs in Truong Sa, where Beijing was conducting illegal construction activities is international waters, not owned by China.

According to Jerry Hendrix, China is challenging not only the US, but also Japan, the Philippines and other countries in the region, seeking to monopolize the East Sea. And this means that China is seeking to assert sovereignty by force in the East Sea.

Also on the 10th of October, speaking to Japanese NHK Television, U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Harry declared that Washington was preparing to send warships to the area of 12 nautical miles around the artificial islands built illegally by China in the East Sea and did not accept China’s claim of establishing the 12 nautical mile territorial waters around these artificial islands.

Previously, on the 8th of October, the Financial Times said that US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter had put pressure on the White House for months to be allowed to take tougher actions against China’s escalation in the East Sea.

On October 9th, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying said that Beijing would not allow any country infringing "the sovereign waters and Chinese airspace" in Truong Sa Archipelago of Vietnam for the “protection of freedom of navigation and aviation”.

Beijing "does not allow" the US or any other country to send ships in the range of 12 nautical miles around the reefs where China is performing illegal construction activities in Vietnam’s Truong Sa. According to statistics, since May, Beijing has eight times required reconnaissance aircraft P8-A Poseidon of the US to leave the airspace of the Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) Reef.

Also on October 9th, Military.com website cited the statement by Vice Admiral Nora Tyson, commander of U.S. 3rd Fleet, as saying that the commander of the US Fleet No. 3 would help implement freedom and security of maritime navigation and aviation near the artificial islands built illegally in the East Sea by China and the Fleets 3 and 7 would jointly perform tasks in the East Sea.

Admiral Harry Harris has said that America must conduct patrols to ensure freedom of navigation in the Asia - Pacific region and this will increase the risk of the US – China confrontation in the East Sea.

On October 8th, the South China Morning Post cited information from the Navy Times and Financial Times as saying that the White House formally accepted the above recommendations because China’s illegal construction activities have become the source of tension, posing a threat to freedom and security of aviation and maritime activities in the East Sea.

On October 8th, The Sankei Shimbun reported that the Philippines and the US organized the Phiblex 2015 exercise from the 1st to 9th of October, to strengthen action against the expansion of China in the East Sea.

Petrotimes