The navy did not name the airstrip, but military experts said it was on Woody Island in the Paracels, which China calls as Nansha islands in the South China Sea.
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Separately, an unnamed USA official told Reuters that military visits to the region could take place as often as “twice a quarter or a little more than that”.
The USS Lassen’s mission was part of the US’s “routine freedom of navigation operations”, Harris said, meant to “prevent the decomposition of worldwide laws and norms”. “The South China Sea is not – and will not – be an exception”, he added.
Admiral Harris, of the US Pacific Command, said in a speech at Peking University: “We’ve been conducting freedom of navigation operations all over the world for decades, so no-one should be surprised by them”.
Washington has repeatedly said it does not recognise Chinese claims to territorial waters around the artificial islands.
Ministry of National Defense spokesman Yang Yujun said in a statement issued on Oct 27 that the USS Lassen illegally entered waters close to China’s Zhubi Reef in the South China Sea earlier in the day, and Lanzhou missile destroyer and Taizhou cruiser of the PLA Navy sent warnings to the US ship.
The US does not recognize the man-made features, including Subi Reef, as legitimate islands entitled to territorial seas, and USA officials say they plan to patrol nearby them on a regular basis to enforce that view.
“While we certainly disagree on a few topics – the most public being China’s claims in the South China Sea and our activities there – there are many areas where we have common ground”.
“The president of the ROC on Taiwan Massachusetts Ying-jeou has reasserted the Republic of China’s (ROC) territorial claim to Taiping Island and other islands in the South China Sea, [and] both Chinese authorities staunchly defend their sovereignty over these islands”, Etler said.
In light of the heightened tensions in the South China Sea, regional countries intend to strengthen cooperation, including establishing hotlines to ensure any incidents are contained. (AFP photo)This handout photo taken on March 16, 2015 by satellite imagery provider Digital Globe shows a satellite image of vessels purportedly dredging sand at Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea.
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Harris’ remarks reflect in part the Obama administration’s emphasis on deepening US economic, diplomatic and military relations across the Asia-Pacific – a so-called “pivot to the Pacific” after years of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
