The report confirms that the Lassen will sail only within 12 nautical miles of Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea.
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“This is something that will be a regular occurrence, not a one-off event”, the official said.
“There are billions of dollars of commerce that float through that region of the world”, Earnest told a news briefing.
China has really speeded things up in terms of constructing the new islands atop reefs and atolls in the South China Sea since 2013 and now, has added buildings and airstrips in a bid to boost its sovereignty claims in the disputed territory.
China has repeatedly warned the USA about aggressive action.
The last time the USA patrolled within 12 nautical miles of the disputed islands was back in 2012.
This isn’t the first time the USA has sought to influence the region through naval patrols.
Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy.
Xi surprised U.S. officials after a meeting with Obama in Washington last month by saying that China had “no intention to militarise” the islands.
USA military officials were angry over the leak, but one official reluctantly confirmed the plans. “We have the resources to support whatever those policy decisions are and whatever policymakers may ask us to do to demonstrate the USA resolve with respect to the operations that we conduct in the South China Sea”.
The Chinese maritime safety authorities said construction work on two lighthouses in the South China Sea near Sansha, Hainan Province has been completed, media reported on Friday.
It was not immediately clear whether the US alerted Chinese officials to the planned ship movement.
China has overlapping claims in the South China Sea with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, all of which are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as with Taiwan. It did not go into detail.
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The United States has said building artificial islands does not give China a territorial claim to the waters and that freedom of navigation is key in an area integral to world trade.
