Second, they should respect the principles and spirit of relevant worldwide law, including the Charter of the United Nations and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, peacefully deal with and settle disputes through dialogue and consultations, and jointly uphold the freedom and safety of navigation and overflight through the South China Sea, according to Ma’s proposal.
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The USA action was part of the country’s “routine operations in the South China Sea in accordance with worldwide law”, an American official said.
Addressing journalists in Beijing, Lu Kang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said that China was strongly dissatisfied with the U.S. navy’s actions, which he described as a threat to China’s sovereignty.
He said it would be the first in a series of freedom-of-navigation exercises aimed at testing China’s territorial claims.
Chinese coast guard vessels have used a water cannon on Vietnamese vessels, as well as blockading an island where the Philippines has deployed military personnel.
The construction activity undertaken by China on its own territory is an internal affair and will not block the legal freedom of other countries, Lu said.
Taiwan also makes claims based on the same map, as it was created by the nationalist Kuomintang government, which fled to Taiwan after the communists seized power in China. “We advise the United States to think twice before it takes any action”, he said at a meeting when asked about Washington’s plan to send naval ships to the contested waters.
Mr Carter confirmed that the USS Lassen travelled within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) of the disputed Spratly archipelago, which is at the heart of a controversial Chinese island-building campaign that has soured ties between Washington and Beijing.
Imagery also shows China has built a host of facilities, including as many as three runways.
China traveled within 12 nautical miles of the U.S. controlled Aleutian Island about six weeks ago, the official said.
USA defence authorities said such freedom of navigation exercises will likely become regular operations in the future.
“By using a guided-missile destroyer, rather than smaller vessels … they are sending a strong message”, said Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore’s Institute of South East Asian Studies.
“There should be no media fanfare”, she added.
“The Chinese are certainly not going to back down over the structures they have erected, and they well upgrade what they’ve done so as to develop capability for landing aircraft or better harbours with ships”, says Rod Wye, associate fellow with the Asia program at Chatham House in London.
Beijing has called a US Navy Destroyer’s route through South China sea a “provocation”. He did not comment further.
Countries located in and around the areas of the South China Sea, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, have expressed competing claims to the disputed Spratly Islands.
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Aquino said he saw no problem with the United States patrol. Ownership of a particular island, reef or rock, and the right to name a body of water is more than a question of sentimentality – it is the foundation of many national policy strategies.
