Republican Senators pressed the Pentagon on Thursday to flex US military muscle by sailing Navy ships within 12 miles of artificial islands Beijing is building to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea. John McCain of Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the US needs to go within the 12-mile limit to make it clear that the US does not recognize China's claim that the islands are its territory. "This is a dangerous mistake that grants de facto recognition of China's man-made sovereignty claims," McCain said at a committee hearing held ahead of the Chinese president's visit to the US on Sept. 25.

Mabasa, R. C. (2015, September 19). McCain: US should ignore China's claims in South China Sea. Manila Bulletin, pp. 1, 6.