BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. Navy on Wednesday sailed a destroyer near China-controlled islands within the South China Sea in what Washington mentioned was a patrol aimed toward asserting freedom of navigation by the strategic seaway.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold sailed previous the Paracel Islands and continued thereafter with operations within the South China Sea.
The operation “upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful makes use of of the ocean,” the seventh Fleet mentioned in a information launch.
Such operations are thought of key to the U.S. Navy sustaining its presence within the Indo-Pacific, the place China has grown its presence by a huge ship constructing marketing campaign.
Beijing has additionally alarmed the U.S., Australia and New Zealand with the signing of a mutual protection settlement with the Solomon Islands, underneath which it might obtain Chinese language troops in emergencies and presumably set up a everlasting Chinese language navy presence.
In response to the Benfold’s passage, China’s Southern Theater Command tracked the vessel’s actions and ordered it to go away the world, Air Drive Col. Tian Junli was quoted as saying on the Protection Ministry’s web site.
“Our troops within the navy space are on excessive alert always to safeguard nationwide sovereignty, safety and peace and stability within the South China Sea,” the ministry mentioned.
China claims possession over just about all the strategic waterway, by which passes round $5 trillion in international commerce annually and which holds extremely invaluable fish shares and undersea mineral assets. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan additionally lay competing claims to the area.
The plane service USS Ronald Reagan has additionally been deployed to the South China Sea, together with its strike group together with guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam and guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins.
“Our presence within the South China Sea demonstrates America’s dedication to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Capt. Fred Goldhammer, commanding officer of the Ronald Reagan, was quoted as saying in a information launch.
Chinese language International Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Wednesday reiterated China’s rejection of a 2016 Hague arbitration ruling introduced by the Philippines underneath the United Nations Conference on the Regulation of the Sea that invalidated Beijing’s huge territorial claims within the South China Sea.
“China neither accepts nor acknowledges (the ruling). China won’t ever settle for any declare or motion primarily based on this award,” Wang mentioned at a every day briefing.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday issued a name for China to abide by the ruling and warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its forces, vessels or plane come underneath assault within the disputed waters.
Whereas publicly pursuing nearer ties with the Philippines authorities, China has moved aggressively to claim its management in disputed waters with its vastly superior coast guard and naval property.
Dozens of left-wing activists and employees protested in entrance of the Chinese language Consulate in Manila’s Makati monetary district on Tuesday, asking Beijing to respect the arbitration ruling and for newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to defend the nation’s territory and sovereign rights within the South China Sea.
Washington lays no declare to the disputed waters however has deployed Navy ships and Air Drive jets to patrol the waterway for many years and says freedom of navigation and overflight is within the U.S. nationwide curiosity. China has responded angrily, accusing the U.S. of meddling in a purely Asian dispute and demanding it go away the area the place it has had a naval presence for greater than a century.
