Beijing Protests US Sail-By in South China Sea

On January 30, the USS Curtis Wilbur, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels, which is controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

U.S. military leaders admit the U.S. Navy Destroyer, Curtis Wilbur sailed into waters that China claims – With the U.S. saying it was a challenge to claims by mainland China, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

The US declared it had not notified the claimants before the assignment but this was “consistent with our regular procedure and worldwide law”.

The move on the part of the U.S.is “a deliberate provocation”, Yang Yujun, China’s Ministry of National Defense spokesman, said in a statement, according to the official Xinhua News Agency on Saturday. “Whatever provocative action the US takes, the Chinese military will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect the nation’s sovereignty and security”.

Three months ago, the Navy sent another guided-missile destroyer on a similar mission close to one of the artificial islands China has built on a partly submerged reef in the South China Sea.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a country is given 12 nautical miles of territorial control. “The United States takes no position on competing sovereignty claims between the parties to naturally formed land features in the South China Sea”.

Last week, U.S. Adm. Harry Harris, commander of the Pacific Command, said that more operations in the South China Sea would not only continue but would also become more complex. Beijing’s claims in the Spratlys are contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei and the Philippines – a USA treaty ally.

China says virtually the entire South China Sea and its islands, reefs and atolls are its sovereign territory, although five other regional governments have overlapping claims. China, said Xinhua, as a signatory to the UNCLOS, has been committed to preserving the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and to safeguarding peace and stability in the region.

The U.S. has also said that all sides in various territorial disputes should avoid aggressive actions and claims.

According to Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis, the move was aimed at the protection of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

“I’d rather put up with a few (people) condemning me for visiting the island at an inappropriate time than be criticized by the public for neglecting my duty, abdicating my rights and bringing shame to the country”, he said.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea – through which more than US$5 trillion (S$7.1 trillion) in shipborne trade passes every year.

Yet perhaps, once again, the muted reaction is a dividend of the careful U.S. approach, relaying to China that the United States will counter excessive territorial claims, but in such a way as to minimise the risk of direct confrontation.

China seized the unpopulated Triton Island, an area of 0.46 sq. miles, from former South Vietnam in 1974.

Another irony is that Uncle Sam asserts that it maintains freedom of navigation in the South China Sea on the legal basis of global law, but it applies standards unilaterally defined by itself.