Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said Saturday that the operation sought to challenge policies restricting navigation rights and freedom, but the United States takes no position on sovereignty claims to naturally-formed land features in the South China Sea.
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“China always respects and supports navigational freedom in the South China Sea granted by worldwide law to all countries, however, we oppose any infringement of China’s sovereignty, security and maritime interests using the excuse of “navigational freedom”, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang.
U.S. military leaders admit the U.S. Navy Destroyer, Curtis Wilbur sailed into waters that China claims – With the U.S. saying it was a challenge to claims by mainland China, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
“No claimants (to that area of the sea) were notified prior to the transit, which is consistent with our normal process and global law”, Wright said in a statement.
In September, however, a flotilla of five Chinese warships came within 12 nautical miles of the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea, a rare foray into US territorial waters that was also done without prior notice and as “innocent passage”.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the U.S. action of being “intentionally provocative” and “irresponsible and extremely dangerous”. Chinese armed forces will take whatever measures “necessary to safeguard China’s sovereignty and security, no matter what provocations the USA side may take”, Yang said.
The latest exercise is a further escalation, extending the United States challenge from the Spratly Islands, where Subi Reef is located, to the Paracels which are closer to the Chinese mainland and have been controlled by China for more than four decades.
The U.S. patrol was a “serious offense” and a “deliberately provocative action”, the statement said.
Hua did not elaborate on what kind of warnings the Chinese had made to the US warship, or if Chinese vessels followed the Curtis Wilbur as it sailed inside the 12-mile zone around the island, which China claims as its territory.
Xinhua said: “Facts have proved that China, instead of doing any harm to the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, has provided public services to ensure the safety of all vessels sailing in the waters”.
Recently, the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer sailed by Triton Island in the Paracels which is being claimed by China to exercise freedom of navigation exercises, the Pentagon said.
The official said the former commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Locklear, had proposed conducting the close transit warship transits in the South China Sea but was overruled for years by officials in other agencies of government who blocked the requests by failing to respond to the admiral’s requests.
Due to shared resolve of relevant parties to keep the sea peaceful, and in no smaller part thanks to China’s restraint, the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea has never been a problem.
China, Taiwan and Vietnam all have claims to the island chain known as Xisha in Chinese and Hoang Sa in Vietnamese.
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Yang noted that the USA side has sent warships or aircraft into China’s relevant waters or airspace multiple times, leading to brushes between the two militaries.
