Asia-Pacific

Chinese media: Tough US line on South China Sea islands would risk war

Chinese state media on Friday warned that the US risked a "devastating confrontation" with China if it blocked Beijing's access to artificial island structures it is building in the South China Sea.

Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump's nominee to become Secretary of State, told US senators he would seek to deny China access to the islands. The former oil executive explicitly said that the territories "are not rightfully China's," and compared Beijing's actions in the region with Russia's invasion of Crimea.

"First the island building stops, and second your access to those islands is also not going to be allowed," Tillerson asserted the message to Beijing should be.

The warning drew ire from official Chinese media, which said any such US actions would risk war between the two global powers. An opinion piece in the Chinese state-owned China Daily newspaper accused Tillerson of "undisguised animosity toward China."