BANGKOK -- China's land reclamation and militarization of islands in the South China Sea lacks transparency and is causing angst in the Indo-Pacific region, according to Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, commander of the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet.
In a telephone briefing on Tuesday, one day after a U.S. aircraft carrier called at a Vietnamese port for the first time in more than 40 years, Sawyer reiterated Washington's commitment to a "free and open" Indo-Pacific, and stressed that the navy would continue to operate based on the principle of freedom of navigation, in line with international laws.
