An American warship sailed within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of a disputed island in the South China Sea on Tuesday, causing China to scramble fighters and dispatch its own ships in response.
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This photo from May 2015 shows a Chinese airstrip under construction at Fiery Cross Reef, part of the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
The manoeuvre was the third such operation conducted by the US Navy in less than seven months, created to assert and demonstrate the right to fly and sail through what is considered global waters and airspace, as tensions ratchet ahead of an imminent worldwide arbitration requested by the Philippines, which is contesting China’s claim to more than 80 per cent of the South China Sea.
Duterte, 71, has puzzled diplomats with what has so far been a contradictory position on how he would deal with China’s assertiveness and a blockade by its coastguard of waters and islands claimed by the Philippines.
The area is now being claimed by China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and Brunei.
On Tue, May 10, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang briefly discussed its “rocky relations with the Philippines”. Most of these islands sport military facilities, which leads US officials to believe that China is aiming towards securing the maritime and aerial transit of the region.
The Chinese regime only recently began deploying jets in the South China Sea.
Other ships have undertaken operations, similar to the Lawrence’s, near the Spratly Islands in recent months. China claims the court has no jurisdiction in the case, has refused to participate in the proceedings and said it will ignore the ruling.
China claims it has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha (or Spratly) Islands and its adjacent waters according to the “nine-dash line” that it has delineated at the South China Sea, waters which carry around half of the world’s trade and possibly contains rich reserves of oil and gas. China inaugurated an expanded military airbase on the artificial island past year and landed its first military aircraft at Fiery Cross Reef in April, triggering global condemnation.
Therefore, it hopes that all countries take the principles and spirit of the “South China Sea peace initiative” proposed by Taiwan as reference, preventing provocation and stand-offs, and resolving disputes through peaceful means, the ministry said.
In March, the outgoing Philippine President Benigno Aquino administration announced a deal with Washington to allow a rotating USA military presence at five Philippine bases.
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The Philippines has signed a new defense pact with the United States and filed a legal challenge with a United Nations tribunal asking it to rule the Chinese claims invalid. The peace and stability in the South China Sea should be jointly maintained by China and the ASEAN countries.
