The dramatic move today to send the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen within 12 nautical miles of the islands into what China considers its territorial waters was already under way and the ship could arrive in the disputed waters around the Spratly Islands within 24 hours.
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The USS Lassen passed within 12 nautical miles – the normal limit of territorial waters around natural land – of at least one of the formations the rising Asian power is building in disputed waters.
“The Chinese navy will resolutely perform duties and missions to unswervingly safeguard national sovereignty, maritime rights and interests, and peace and stability in the South China Sea”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang blasted the exercise, saying the ship had “illegally entered” the waters near the islands “without receiving permission from the Chinese government”.
“Make no mistake, the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever worldwide law allows, as we do around the world, and the South China Sea is not and will not be an exception”, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said earlier this month.
The MND, however, is keeping track of air and sea activities in the South China Sea, and has an aerial and marine contingency plan in place in the event of any unexpected developments in the area, he said.
He said China respects freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Ministry Spokesman Noh Kwang-il said on Tuesday in a regular news briefing that the government is aware of and trying to confirm the reports.
Beijing’s response closely mirrored its actions in May when a navy dispatcher warned off a US Navy P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef, where China has conducted extensive reclamation work.
USA officials told the Washington Post that the long anticipated sail-past was meant to underscore Washington’s refusal to accept China’s claim to territorial waters around man-made islands. “And there’s no exception to that, whether it’s the Arctic or the sea lanes that fuel global commerce widely around the world, or the South China Sea”. The Lassen had been followed for weeks by Chinese intelligence-gathering or navy ships, and one of the ships did following the Lassen during its patrol, the official said.
“They have also said, significantly, that there will be more patrols – so it really now is up to China how it will respond”.
At the same time, the United States is exerting its own influence in Asia, pivoting more of its military and economic attention to the region.
He said USA naval patrols would serve as a reminder that “there are norms as to what freedom of navigation entails, and they intend to exercise so that there is no de facto changing of the reality on the ground”.
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U.S. ally the Philippines welcomed the move as a way of helping maintain “a balance of power”. “Australia strongly supports these rights”.
