Mattis: U.S. Will ‘Confront’ Out of Step Behavior in South China Sea

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday that the U.S. would confront behavior out of step with international law, in response to a question about U.S. defense policy towards China’s increasing deployment of military weapons on territories in the South China Sea that are claimed by multiple nations.

“We are going out of our way to cooperate with Pacific nations. That’s the way we do business in the world, but we’re also going to confront what we believe is out of step with international law, out of step with international tribunals that have spoken on the issue,” he said.