Singapore ¨C Just hours after the U.S. military criticized an ¡°unsafe¡± encounter with a Chinese navy ship in the Taiwan Strait, China¡¯s defense chief on Sunday struck back, blaming such moves on ¡°hegemonic actions¡± by the United States and its allies in that waterway and in the disputed South China Sea.
¡°We must prevent attempts (by those) who want to use freedom of navigation and innocent passage as pretexts to exercise hegemony of navigation,¡± said Li after a fiery speech before top defense officials at the Shangri-La Dialogue Asia security conference in Singapore.
The People¡¯s Liberation Army (PLA) general said that every year tens of thousands of ships from different countries sail through the South China Sea without any security issues.
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