South China Sea row heats up

China yesterday said it would project its military power further beyond its sea borders and more assertively in the air, defending the construction of artificial islands which sparked concern in Washington.

The People's Liberation Army navy will put greater emphasis on "open seas protection" rather than "offshore waters defence" alone, the State Council or cabinet said in a white paper.

At the same time the air force will shift focus "from territorial air defence to both defence and offence", it said.

The army will increase its global mobility and artillery forces will strengthen capabilities for "medium and long-range precision strikes", it added.

The announcement came as Japan yesterday said it will join a major US-Australian military exercise for the first time in a sign of growing security links between the three countries amid the tensions in the disputed region.

While only 40 Japanese officers and soldiers will take part in drills involving 30,000 US and Australian troops in early July, experts said the move showed how Washington wanted to foster cooperation among its security allies in Asia.

The paper was released with China and the US at loggerheads over Beijing's rapid island-building in contested parts of the South China Sea, which the country claims almost in its entirety.

China on Friday declared that its military "drove away" a US surveillance aircraft flying near the artificial islands, after US media witnessed a tense radio exchange.

A CNN television crew aboard a P-8 Poseidon plane heard the Chinese navy issuing eight warnings and American pilots replying in each case that they were flying through "international airspace".

China has protested to Washington over the flight, calling it "highly irresponsible and dangerous" and warning that such actions could cause "unwanted incidents".

Official media also yesterday said that China would build two 50-metre-tall lighthouses on reefs in the Spratly islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines.

Beijing has increased annual spending on its military -- the world's largest by personnel -- by double-digit annual percentages for several decades as it seeks to modernise its forces.

Several of its Asian neighbours, some also with claims in the South China Sea, have been alarmed by the military build-up, though Beijing insists that its investment is purely defensive.

The white paper singled out the US's announced "rebalancing" towards Asia, and Japan's revision of some of its defence policies as objects of "concern".

The increasing military presence in the area has raised fears of standoffs and potential clashes.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said on Monday that its military and commercial aircraft would keep flying over disputed areas despite Chinese warnings.