Defense Secretary Jim Mattis vowed Tuesday that the US would keep confronting China over its territorial claims in the South China Sea, where Beijing has established a significant military presence on contested islands. Mr Mattis's remarks came after Beijing voiced "strong dissatisfaction" on Sunday after two US warships sailed by an island in the disputed Paracel Island chain. The US Navy periodically conducts "freedom of navigation" operations in the contested waterway, where it sails close to island features China has built into military facilities as a way of showing it rejects any territorial claims.

US to keep confronting Beijing in S. China Sea - Mattis. (2018, May 31). Manila Bulletin, p. 4.