On Tuesday, a US guided-missile destroyer sailed near the Chinese-claimed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The US Navy said the maneuver was meant to challenge “restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.”
The US often sails warships near disputed archipelagos in the South China Sea to challenge Beijing’s claims, maneuvers known as Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs). Calling out Vietnam and Taiwan by name is a rare departure from the usual US statements on FONOPs.
“China, Vietnam, and Taiwan require either permission or advance notification before a foreign military vessel engages in ‘innocent passage’ through the territorial sea,” the US Navy statement said. The US statement said the restriction was against international law, as outlined by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The US began challenging China’s claims in the region using FONOPs in 2015. According to the South China Sea Probing Initiative, Tuesday’s passage by the McCain marked the 9th time this year a US Navy vessel passed within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese-claimed island, the most in a single year since US FONOPs started in the South China Sea.
The increase in FONOPs came along with an uptick in US naval drills. The US sent several carrier strike groups to the South China Sea throughout the year.
Why should Taiwan be part of China if they don’t want to be . The last country to have control of Taiwan was Japan . If Taiwan had nuclear bombs like N korea has maybe China would not want to try to control Taiwan ?
Why should Taiwan be part of China if they don’t want to be?
. . .think the US Confederacy, or Ukraine’s Crimea, neither of which the US accepted.
return Texas, calif to Mexico—-who is they?
It’s curious that the US Navy is claiming to enforce UNCLOS considering that the US Senate didn’t like UNCLOS and refused to ratify it. And Navy goes further, mistaking what UNCLOS says about US (un-) innocent passage.
US Navy: “By engaging in innocent passage without giving prior notification to or asking permission from any of the claimants, the United States challenged the unlawful restrictions imposed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The United States demonstrated that innocent passage may not be subject to such restrictions”
UNCLOS: Article 19
Meaning of innocent passage
1.Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State.
I’d say that repeatedly sailing naval ships through foreign territorial waters, and bragging about it, is not innocent. You?