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Austin: US doesn't want conflict with China but won't 'flinch when our interests are threatened'
CNN
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that China's claims and actions in the Indo-Pacific threaten the sovereignty of nations around the region while Washington is committed to building partnerships that guarantee the vital interest of all nations.
"Beijing's claim to the vast majority of the South China Sea has no basis in international law. That assertion treads on the sovereignty of states in the region," Austin said in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore. China claims almost all of the 1.3-million-square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory, despite much of those claims running against international law.More Related News