US Sails Near Disputed Island In South China Sea

Pentagon says that US Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of an island claimed by China and two other countries in the South China Sea to counter efforts to limit freedom of navigation.

China’s foreign ministry said on Saturday a USA warship that sailed near an artificial island claimed by Beijing and several other nations has violated Chinese law by entering its territorial waters.

“The concern was that, if we looked like we were responding to something the Chinese had done, it would undermine our assertion that this is a matter of global law, and our rights to navigate the seas”, said a US Defense Department official.

“Such actions are technically very unprofessional, they are irresponsible to the safety of servicemen of both sides, and are extremely unsafe in regard to (potential) outcomes”, Yang said. The so-called “freedom of navigation” operations (FONOPS) are targeted against Chinese-administered islets, as last October’s intrusion by the USS Lassen into waters surrounding Subi Reef made clear. Under relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, Xinhua said China launched the task of carrying out anti-piracy escort missions in the Gulf of Aden off the waters of Somalia in late 2008.

China has been accused of creating tension in the region as it continues to lay claim disputed islands and reefs that are located along global trade routes. “The Chinese side conducted surveillance and vocal warnings to the US warship”, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement.

“That is true in the South China Sea, as in other places around the globe”, he said. The Chinese argue that baseline covers the entire Island chain its own maritime boundary like that of Indonesia. The US takes no position on competing sovereignty claims between the parties to naturally-formed land features in the South China Sea, Urban reiterated.

China has set up a vaguely defined “Nine Dash Line” covering most of the sea.

The U.S. has claimed the attempts to restrict navigational rights by requiring prior notice are inconsistent with worldwide law and pledged to regularly carry out similar maneuvers.

According to the statement, the USS Curtis Wilbur destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou ignored a rebuke from the USA and visited an island in the contested area earlier this week, reiterating claims to the disputed waterway.

“No claimants (to that area of the sea) were notified prior to the transit, which is consistent with our normal process and global law”, Wright said in a statement.

According to official Chinese data, the South China Sea covers 3.55 million square km.

Port facilities, air strips and military buildings have gone up on the built-out islands, prompting United States warnings that it would assert its rights to ‘fly, sail and operate wherever worldwide law allows’.

But there are fears such patrols could lead to a risky escalation in military tensions between Beijing and Washington.