U.S. warship nears China-built islands in South China Sea

Asked for comment about the US move, a spokesman at the Chinese embassy in Washington, Zhu Haiquan, told the Associated Press China respects freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

China expressed its “strong dissatisfaction” over the move.

The same month, a US warship sailed through the Spratlys but also remained more than 12 miles from China’s man-made islands.

Gimmicks like conducting patrols around South China Sea features built up by Vietnam and the Philippines – which have illegally occupied a few of China’s islands – can not hide to which side the United States is tilted. US forces operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea.

“We will continue to closely monitor the relevant seas and airspace, and take all necessary steps in accordance with the need”, the ministry said in a statement that gave no details on precisely where the USA ship sailed.

Taiwan said it rejected China’s claim of sovereignty over the Spratly archipelago and called for dialogue to resolve the dispute peacefully. On Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest referred questions on specific operations to the Pentagon but reiterated that commitment to freedom of navigation. Kraska said that a better time to push back against Chinese claims would have been in late August, when China dispatched five naval vessels to the Bering Sea during Obama’s visit to Alaska.

In a direct challenge to China, the U.S. warship navigated near man-made islands built by Beijing.

However foreign analysts have said the runways on the islands could have a military use.

More than $5 trillion worth of world trade passes through the South China Sea every year, making it one of the world’s busiest waterways.

The official said it is “unclear when this will occur”, but that execution of the plan could be within hours.

“The United States has publicly declared its policy of conducting Freedom of Navigation operations globally, consistent with global law”, she said. But the passage was seen as significant at the time given that Beijing has long objected to the U.S. Navy transiting China’s territorial waters without prior permission or even sailing near them.

At September’s summit, President Obama told Xi that the United States would operate, fly or sail anywhere that global law allows.

Carter has said the United States is not taking a position on which nations have sovereignty over the islands.

In 2014, China began building up the islands to bolster its claims to the disputed area.

Poling said under maritime law, artificial islands were not usually afforded the 12-mile territorial zone, and that the U.S. Navy deliberately chose to send the destroyer near Subi Reef for this reason.

A USA official said there were Chinese vessels in the vicinity as the destroyer made its journey, but that there was nothing untoward in their behavior.

USS Lassen is homeported to Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan. The US estimates that more than 2,000 acres of land have been reclaimed by Chinese dredging ships. China has denied that it intends to militarize its development of the islands. It contains an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil. USA officials maintain they are worldwide waters and open to navigation. “And there’s no exception to that, whether it’s the Arctic or the sea lanes that fuel worldwide commerce widely around the world, or the South China Sea”.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen.

Earlier, the official said the ship would likely be accompanied by a U.S. Navy P-8A surveillance plane and possibly P-3 surveillance plane, which have been conducting regular surveillance missions in the region.

The new agreement comes one year after a similar agreement last year, the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, which was reached between the USA, China, and more than a dozen other countries.