SHOWDOWN AT SEA China warns U.S. after Navy ship passes near islands

The USS Lassen passed within 12 nautical miles of at least one of the land formations Beijing claims in the disputed Spratly Islands on Tuesday, a United States defence official says.

“US forces operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea”, he added.

On Tuesday, the U.S. upped the ante once again by deploying a warship to sail through a 12-nautical mile zone around two artificial islands in the Spratlys. However, the United Nations law states that foreign vessels, both military and civilian, are allowed innocent passage through territorial waters.

A White House official has said the U.S. has made it clear to China how important it considers the free flow of commerce in the South China Sea to be.

China claims most of the South China Sea, although Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims. The same official said the movement would take place “within hours”. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, declined to comment. President Benigno Aquino III said the move was “meant precisely to say that there are norms as to what freedom of navigation entails”. “If they, instead of passing by, stop for further actions, it is necessary for us to launch electronic interventions, and even send out warships, lock them by fire-control radar and fly over the United States vessels”, it said. It is also about what kind of world power China is going to be under President Xi Jinping, who has a forward-leaning interpretation of China’s global role that puts naval strength at the forefront.

But despite the Chinese rhetoric, analysts said more such operations could be expected.

The US Freedom of Navigation programme challenges what it deems to be “excessive claims” to the world’s oceans and airspace. “The Chinese side strongly urges the USA side to negotiate seriously with China, immediately rectify its mistakes, and not to undertake any risky and provocative actions that threaten Chinese sovereignty and security interests”.

Euan Graham, director of the worldwide Security Program at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, said while there was likely to be a strong vocal reaction from China, its military response could be muted.

The move followed months of consideration by US officials and was quickly blasted by Chinese officials for violating what it sees as its territorial waters.

“If any country wishes to disrupt or impede China’s reasonable, justifiable and lawful activities on our own territories by playing a few little tricks, I would advise these countries to cast off this fantasy”, Lu said.

What is Freedom of Navigation? “You don’t need to consult with anybody”, Kirby said.