The US sailed a warship near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Wednesday in Washington’s latest challenge to Beijing’s claims in the disputed waters.
The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold made the provocative passage on July 13 local time. The US often sails warships close to Chinese-controlled islands in the region in maneuvers it dubs Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs).
Beijing strongly condemned the move, accusing the US of infringing on its territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles off the coast. China, Vietnam, and Taiwan all lay claim to the Paracel Islands, an archipelago of small coral islands and reefs.
“Actions by the US military seriously infringed on China’s sovereignty and security, seriously undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea, and seriously violated international law and norms of international relations,” a spokesman for China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said, according to The South China Morning Post.
Also on Wednesday, the Seventh Fleet announced that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group are now operating in the South China Sea. The Seventh Fleet said the strike group is “conducting maritime security operations, which include flight operations with fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, maritime strike exercises, and coordinated tactical training between surface and air units.”
The US military activity in the region comes a day after the Biden administration reminded China that the US would intervene if China attacked Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered the warning in a statement on the sixth anniversary of an international tribunal ruling that sided with the Philippines against Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea.
The tribunal made the ruling under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The US is not a party to UNCLOS but has used the treaty to reject most of China’s claims to the South China Sea.
Am I alone in thinking, what else is going to provoke China to take Taiwan? What else can we try to provoke yet another catastrophic “unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression?” I’m running out of ideas.
As a rule they prefer to use the CIA for trouble-making. Like Tiananmen & Hong Kong, it fronts with locals, has a better cover narrative, and is much cheaper.
Damn straight. If Taiwan doesn’t want to be “taken,” it shouldn’t be wandering around that neighborhood wearing a short skirt, lest it “provoke” the “taker.”
I fully agree NA… My new nickname for Biden is Bye-Done. (!)
I’ll be saying that if and when he starts WWIII…
It’s called the South China Sea, how can the US dispute anything?…
The convening rules for that “international tribunal ruling” – Arbitral Tribunal, is hq’d in the Hague and naturally anything in the West would automatically rule against China. Furthermore, the rules of that Tribunal require disputing parties to agree to Arbitration. China did not do that, therefore the ruling is null and void for not even following their own rules.
US is not a party to UNCLOS but has used the treaty to reject most of China’s claims to the South China Sea
“We don’t recognize UNCLOS, EXCEPT when it rules against China in a case where China boycotted and didn’t even show up, then it’s TOTALLY legit”
South China Sea islands already have a mess of a claims that is impossible to resolve and militarized installations by like 5 different countries, we don’t need to insert our warships into it over these worthless rocks.
What is it that all of these countries want in that region?
Laughable, isn’t it?
China should sail by Guam or Puerto Rico
Dock at Cuba. That ought to do it.
Go into Cuba’s territorial waters near Guantanamo.
Is there is a strategic value to these islands or do they have some resources that we just don’t know about that makes these islands prized to China?…
Obviously strategic….
China is trying to prevent a military blockade of international shipping from and to China by the US Navy, in the event of hostilities. FONOPS is such an Orwellian term as used in the context of the SCS. China has never threatened or taken any action against international shipping/trade in the SCS because they are equally or more dependent on it than any other nation.