Battle In South China Sea Where China Is Winning

“I know we conduct B-52 flights in worldwide airspace in that part of the world all the time”, he said during a press conference Thursday.

The analysis and recommendations in Ralph Cossa’s column “Weighing Japan’s options in the South China Sea” in the November 10 edition miss the mark.

Last month the U.S. sent a destroyer warship within 12 miles of the artificial island chain, again denying that there was any violation of Chinese territory.

“Both aircraft continued their mission without incident, and at all times operated fully in accordance with worldwide law”, he said.

A USA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill newspaper on Thursday that the bombers made one pass within 12 nautical miles of the islands over the weekend.

The latest flights were confirmed ahead of President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit next week to the Philippines and Malaysia, two countries which have rival claims to China’s in the region.

The B-52 mission was routine and not designated a “freedom of navigation” operation, Urban said.

Washington and Beijing are locked in a diplomatic dispute over the South China Sea, with China declaring territorial sovereignty over the region while the US insists on freedom of navigation.

Graham notes that the “demonstration value could be thrown dangerously into reverse if Beijing drew the conclusion that the conduct of innocent passage amounts to customary acceptance of a de jure territorial sea around Subi Reef and other submerged features or low-tide elevations under China’s control in the Spratlys”. Reuters reports that the usa bombers continued undeterred.

Top USA officials were also hesitant to confirm the Lassen’s sail-by in public, drawing fierce criticism members of Congress who argued it made no sense to keep the operation private if it was meant to be a public demonstration against China’s claims. The map covers around 2 million square kilometers of maritime space equal to about 22 percent of China’s land area, according to a U.S. State Department estimate. Mainland investment in the programme will double in the next three years to US$200 billion (RM876 billion), the South China Morning Post reported, citing UBS Group AG.

Beijing, along with several other Asian capitals, have a knot of claims to maritime territory. That’s a big if, though, given how much President Xi Jinping has embedded the nine-dash line into China’s psyche of a resurgent regional power.