China’s military buildup in the South China Sea and its deployment of high-end weapons systems in the disputed waterway is designed to intimidate and coerce neighbors, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday. Singapore—China’s military buildup in the South China Sea and its deployment of high-end weapons systems in the disputed waterway is designed to intimidate and coerce neighbors, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday. Speaking at a high-profile security summit in Singapore less than two weeks before President Donald Trump is due to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Pentagon chief also said the US military continues to support diplomats pushing for the “complete, verifiable and irreversible” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Mattis hits Beijing for intimidation. (2018, June 03). Manila Standard, pp. A1, A2.