Washington sources reported that US President Donald Trump slammed his predecessor Barack Obama for being "impotent" and not stopping China from expanding its influence in the South China Sea, saying the Chinese Navy was now posing a confrontational challenge for America in the disputed region. Meanwhile President Trump's remarks came hours after he was briefed at the White House by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his meetings with the top Chinese leadership in Beijing this week.
Donald Trump said during an interaction with reporters abroad Air Force One "The Obama administration was impotent about the South China Sea”. Moreover he said the Chinese Navy was now posing a confrontational challenge for America in the disputed South China Sea region. Presently China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and with Japan in the East China Sea.
Furthermore China claims almost all of the South
China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter
claims over the area. Moreover the US has been conducting regular patrols in
the South China Sea to assert freedom of navigation in the area where Beijing
has built up and militarized many of the islands and reefs it controls in the
region.
