A range of security experts have said Washington’s freedom-of-navigation patrols would have to be regular to be effective, given Chinese ambitions to project power deep into maritime Southeast Asia and beyond.
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A Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Lassen’s movements, said the patrol was completed without incident.
China has reacted angrily after a U.S. naval warship sailed through disputed waters of the South China Sea, saying the move threatened its “sovereignty”. “Is that true? Did we do that?”
(Senator:) “Did we send a destroyer inside the 12-mile zone?”
“You messed up in Iraq and Syria”, the post said, “Now what do you want to do in our waters?” “But what you read in the newspaper is accurate”. “If we feel disgraced and utter a few furious words, it will only make the USA achieve its goal of irritating us”, it said.
The USA has confirmed the operation took place, apparently as part of its Freedom of Navigation programme.
In fact, Carter was simply following White House orders, administration officials said.
Mr Jennings, ASPI’s executive director, said that Australia should swiftly follow-up on the United States challenge with its own operation consisting either of a naval patrol or an RAAF flyover.
Even the Global Times, known for its nationalistic rhetoric, issued a call for restraint, emphasising the need for China to show moral superiority in the face of what it described as Washington’s bullying.
“China will firmly deal with provocations from other countries”, the statement said, adding that China would continue to monitor the air and sea and take further action when necessary.
The Chinese foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest over the move.
The official said the sailing lasted about two hours.
Despite the strong language – and a vow that such actions could force China to speed up its building program in the South China Sea – Beijing’s response repeated standard language about its rights and sovereignty over the South China Sea.
The Spratly archipelago is closer to the Philippines than to China.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea as its territory, including the main islands and reefs, and contends that giving up that claim would “shame its ancestors”. Other countries in South-East Asia have competing claims for the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands and Scarborough Shoal, which are thought to have resource-rich waters around them.
During that meeting the Chinese premier stated that China did not wish to pursue “militarisation” in the South China Sea. China challenged the USS Lassen by radio, and it was followed by a Chinese vessel, but the Chinese avoided making a physical challenge.
The patrol came within the internationally accepted limit of a nation’s territorial claim, according to the US.
“China has indisputable sovereignty of the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters”, Lu said, using China’s name for the Spratlys.
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“The United States and its allies and partners should now help the Chinese leadership in saving face, by emphasising that freedom of navigation operations are normal, not extraordinary”, he said.
