A Pentagon spokesman said that Saturday’s operation was to challenge the three claimant countries’-China, Taiwan, and Vietnam- self-imposed restrictions on the freedom of navigation and freedoms.
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China’s Ministry of Defense spokesman Yang Yujun said in a statement the US action “severely violated the law”.
The Pentagon said on Saturday the aim of the warship was “to counter efforts to limit freedom of navigation”. Beijing’s claims in the Spratlys are contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei and the Philippines-a US treaty ally.
He added that the move on the USA side is very unprofessional and irresponsible for the safety of the troops of both sides, and may cause extremely risky consequences. 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.
Vietnam respects harmless travel complying with global rules, Foreign Minister spokesman Le Hai Binh said in comments on the government website yesterday.
File: U.S.S. Curtis Wilbur patrols the waters of the Arabian Gulf. “The Chinese side conducted surveillance and vocal warnings to the USA warship”, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement.
China, however, would be one of the worst affected countries if shipping were disrupted, given its heavy reliance on imports from Africa and the Middle East via South East Asia.
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou defended his visit to a disputed island in the South China Sea January 28 despite criticism from the United States and protests from the other claimants as tensions swirl in the region.
It is strongly desired that Washington abandon its own standards to observe global laws and act as a responsible power, rather than stirring up trouble in the South China Sea and then making a false countercharge against others.
Last year, China conducted a similar innocent passage through the U.S. Aleutian Islands in September in a manner the U.S. “in a manner consistent with worldwide law”, U.S. Northern Command Officials said at the time in a story first reported by USNI News.
In October, another USA warship sailed in the disputed Spratly Islands near Subi Reef, where China has built an artificial island. “But China’s defense ministry says in a statement that it warned the USA ship before chasing it away”.
The missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed 12 nautical miles of China’s Zhongjian Dao, Xisha Islands, on Saturday.
China seized the unpopulated Triton Island, an area of 1.2 square kilometers (0.46 sq. miles), from former South Vietnam in 1974.
“There is no logic that sending a warship to challenge China’s sovereignty and security will help to the situation, unless, peace and stability in the South China Sea is not the U.S. objective”, it said.
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The deliberate sailing so close to the disputed island territory – the second time the United States has done this in recent months – is meant to head off any attempt by Beijing to curb freedom of navigation and overflight through the strategic waters.
