Republican senators pressed the Pentagon on Thursday to flex US military muscle by sailing Navy ships within 22 kilometers of artificial islands Beijing is building to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, chair of the Senate armed services committee, said the United States needs to go within the 22-km limit to make it clear that the United States 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 United States on Sept. 25.

US told to ignore China claims in South China Sea. (2015, September 19). Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A16.