Will US Go To War With China Over South China Sea? Beijing Should Be Given ‘No Access’ To Islands In Disputed Region, Rex Tillerson Says

Amid growing tensions between the U.S. and China, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state said Wednesday that Beijing should be barred from islands in the disputed South China Sea region.

Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil, made the comments at his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He likened China’s building of islands and militarizing them to “Russia’s taking Crimea” from Ukraine.