According to the daily, the operation lasted about three hours, during which there were no Chinese army or navy seen in the area.
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Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said no ships from China’s military were in the vicinity of the USS Curtis Wilbur when it passed near Triton Island.
The freedom of navigation operations are meant to show that US vessels can sail in worldwide waters at any time they desire.
The U.S. patrol was a “serious offense” and a “deliberately provocative action”, the statement said.
The missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed 12 nautical miles of China’s Zhongjian Dao, Xisha Islands, on Saturday.
As ironic as it is, Washington has always defended its arbitrary move by referring to worldwide law, but it has so far not approved the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which establishes legal order and regulations on global waters.
China urged the United States to respect and abide by its laws, and not to undermine the mutual trust and regional peace and stability. Chinese leaders are calling it “a severe provocation” and a violation of Chinese law. “Public sentiment in China will rise and it will become hard for the Chinese government to handle”. Freedom of navigation operations usually involve transit within 12 miles of an island along with operations that can include radar activity, flights of aircraft and maneuvers within the 12-mile limit.
It is strongly desired that Washington abandon its own standards to observe worldwide laws and act as a responsible power, rather than stirring up trouble in the South China Sea and then making a false countercharge against others.
China has asserted its claims by rapidly building artificial islands in another South China Sea island chain, the Spratlys, raising tensions in the region. It is also a major shipping lane. To say that the Xisha Islands are contested by China, Taiwan and Vietnam is thus untrue. “All maritime claims must comply with global law”. China has been hauling massive amounts of sand and other material to build on reefs and other features, setting up landing strips.
According to Yang, Chinese troops on the island and navy vessels and warplanes took actions immediately, identified the US warship and “warned and expelled it swiftly”. One of the U.S.’ goals is to bring tension back to the region, Zhang said.
Admiral Harris boasted during his CSIS presentation that “everything that is new and cool is going to the Pacific”. He pointed in particular to Australia, Japan, Singapore and the Philippines, where work was being done to “improve operational relationships”.
Australia’s Minister for Defence Marise Payne.
Senator McCain added that the operation challenged the “excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights and freedoms of the United States”.
Dr. Sam Bateman who retired from the Royal Australian Navy as a Commodore calls the U.S. moves in the South China Sea “a bad idea”. She glossed over the fact that the largest share goes to China, which has no interest in disrupting trade.
The United States is actually pursuing maritime hegemony in the name of “freedom”, which was opposed by the global community, especially the developing countries, he said. On the return leg, Turnbull also met with Admiral Harris in Hawaii.
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During the “sail by”, there were no Chinese warships in the area and thus, no encounter was recorded.
