SHOWDOWN AT SEA China warns USA after Navy ship passes near islands

“The behavior of the U.S. warship threatened China’s sovereignty and national interest, endangered the safety of the island’s staff and facilities, and harmed the regional peace and stability”, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement on Tuesday. The US Navy patrol was part of routine operations to defend freedom of navigation in accordance with global law, according to a Defense Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Japan is not a claimant in the South China Sea. Other countries in South-East Asia have competing claims for the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands and Scarborough Shoal, which are thought to have resource-rich waters around them.

“We advise the USA to think twice before it takes any action”, he said at a meeting when asked about Washington’s plan to send naval ships to the contested waters.

“Beijing should deal with Washington tactfully and prepare for the worst”.

Image copyright AFP Image caption A file photo from April shows what is claimed to be an airstrip under construction on the Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands What is Freedom of Navigation?

The US Freedom of Navigation programme challenges what it deems to be “excessive claims” to the world’s oceans and airspace.

The move is a significant escalation of the dispute over the strategically vital South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety, even waters close to the coasts of other states.

The sail-past fits a United States policy of pushing back against China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. “Nations routinely come within those 12 nautical miles”.

US Defence Secretary Ash Carter had previously signalled plans for the sail-by, saying the USA would “fly, sail and operate wherever worldwide law allows”.

The guided missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) underway in the rough seas of the East China Sea. While the Lassen did not encounter any resistance, Chinese ships trailed it through its journey, a USA defense official told NBC News.

Both chains are essentially uninhabitable, but are claimed by no fewer than seven countries, eager to gain control of the vast oil and gas fields below them, as well as some of the region’s best fishing grounds.

Vague explanations have been offered to justify this costly exercise.

Chinese coast guard vessels have used a water cannon on Vietnamese vessels, as well as blockading an island where the Philippines has deployed military personnel.

Meanwhile, world leaders have been invited to the November’s APEC leaders’ summit in the Philippine capital but there has been no confirmation yet if Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend.

However, many are sceptical of China’s geopolitical aims. A second defense official said the mission, which lasted a few hours, also included Mischief Reef and would be the first in a series of freedom-of-navigation exercises aimed at testing China’s territorial claims.

The patrol could prompt China to do more to exert its sovereignty in the region through further reclamation’s and greater militarization, he added.

But despite the Chinese rhetoric, analysts said more such U.S. manoeuvres could be expected.