China signals no South China Sea backdown as foreign minister goes to U.S.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that the U.S. should not “make a fuss” about China’s placement of surface-to-air missiles on Islands in the South China Sea. Reuters reports that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be visiting to the United States this week, and that these statements have set an antagonistic tone for the visit. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also said that the U.S. isn’t involved in the South China Sea dispute, and likened the placement of missiles on islands there to the U.S. placing defenses on the islands of Hawaii.

At the same time, American officials are reported as encouraging Australia and other Pacific nations to conduct naval operations near the islands to contest Chinese claims to the area. Mike Chinoy, from the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California, told The Cipher Brief that “Beijing’s muscular new approach is a reflection of China’s growing confidence—a belief that its economic clout and military strength means it no longer needs to defer as much to Washington and its allies.” It remains to be seen how China’s confidence in this area will affect the already tense situation in the region.