Adm. Harry Harris is proposing a muscular U.S. response to China’s island-building that may include launching aircraft and conducting military operations within 12 miles of these man-made islands, as part of an effort to stop what he has called the “Great Wall of Sand” before it extends within 140 miles from the Philippines’ capital, sources say.
Harris and his U.S. Pacific Command have been waging a persistent campaign in public and in private over the past several months to raise the profile of China’s land grab, accusing China outright in February of militarizing the South China Sea.
But the Obama administration, with just nine months left in office, is looking to work with China on a host of other issues from nuclear non-proliferation to an ambitious trade agenda, experts say, and would prefer not to rock the South China Sea boat, even going so far as to muzzle Harris and other military leaders in the run-up to a security summit.
The White House has sought to tamp down on rhetoric from Harris and other military leaders, who are warning that China is consolidating its gains to solidify sovereignty claims to most of the South China Sea.
Harris lost. 4-24-2018 The Trump administration has abruptly decided that Washington’s pick for ambassador to Australia should instead become envoy to South Korea, filling a diplomatic void just as President Trump prepares to meet Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, officials said on Wednesday.
The shift involving Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of the United States forces in the Pacific, is a diplomatic blow to Australia, a close American ally. Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, confirmed that Admiral Harris would not be taking the post in Australia. Harris lost the South China Sea and his job, got to work behind a desk instead.