Shafaq News/ US Defense Secretary, Mark Esper, announced that his country is preparing its forces across Asia for a possible confrontation with China.

"The United States is equipping and repositioning its forces throughout Asia, in preparation for a possible confrontation with China," the Wall Street Journal quoted Esper, via videoconference from the Pentagon to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The newspaper said that the US Defense Secretary remarks outline the military component of Trump's administration hardening the stance towards Beijing. Esper said the U.S. would continue to send Navy ships into the region to counter China’s expansionary policies and to sell arms to Taiwan.
The US Secretary of Defense had confirmed that the United States, "will continue to be in the South China Sea and send aircraft carriers there for training and no one can stop it."

Esber stressed the "issue of free navigation in the waters of the region", noting that his country wants to, "to confront the oppressive behavior of the Chinese in the South China Sea. This has been going on for many years. We want to secure free navigation there. You know that 80% of global trade passes through The Pacific and Indian regions, especially across the South China Sea, so we want to make sure that it is free, open, and secure navigation, otherwise, international trade will be severely affected."

The US Secretary of Defense also asserted the necessity for his country’s allies in South Asia to defend their territorial waters and for China to respect the sovereignty of countries in the region.