China condemned the move and summoned the USA ambassador in a show of protest.
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The missile destroyer the USS Lassen passed within 12 nautical miles of at least one of the formations China claims in the Spratly Islands.
Obama summed up the lessons he’s learnt on China in an interview with The Economist previous year: “One thing I will say about China, though, is you also have to be pretty firm with them, because they will push as hard as they can until they meet resistance”.
Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said Beijing would “resolutely respond to any country’s deliberately provocative actions”.
Chinese media is this morning reporting two of its own warships have been sent to waters near Subi reef to confront any further “trespassing”.
Chinese leadership should exercise “wisdom and determination” in reacting to the US Navy patrolling its guided missile destroyer within waters considered sovereign Chinese territory, a newspaper said in an opinion piece.
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Indonesia’s president called Tuesday for all parties in the disputed South China Sea to exercise restraint and for China and Southeast Asia’s regional bloc to start discussions on the substance of a code of conduct to manage tensions there.
Under his South China Sea peace initiative, Massachusetts said that the ROC, upholding the basic principles of “safeguarding sovereignty, shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint development”, is willing to exploit resources in the South China Sea in cooperation with the other parties concerned. They said such “freedom-of-navigation” patrols were expected to become more frequent.
Washington’s long-awaited move appeared to escalate tensions over the strategically vital waters, where Beijing has rapidly transformed reefs and outcrops into artificial islands with potential military use.
President Benigno Aquino’s nation believes China is boosting its military capabilities near where Beijing and Manila are locked in a standoff over islets the Philippines claims.
Pentagon officials say that the USA regularly conducts freedom-of-navigation operations in various places around the world to challenge excessive maritime claims.
Washington worries that China has built up the islands with the aim of extending its military reach in the South China Sea.
“If it is true, we advise the United States to think twice before it takes any action”, he said, urging the country “not to act in an imprudent way and not to make trouble out of nothing”. “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”.
In May, the Chinese navy issued eight warnings to the crew of a US P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft that flew near the artificial islands but not within the 12-mile limit.
“You messed up in Iraq and Syria”, the post said, “Now what do you want to do in our waters?”
Xi and Obama are due to cross paths at several global meetings next month, including an Asia-Pacific leaders summit in the Philippines.
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Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a low-tide elevation – one naturally submerged at high tide – is not entitled to a 12-nautical-mile territorial limit, Erickson said.
