China called the US the “biggest disrupter of peace” in the South China Sea after a US warship sailed near Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed waters.
The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said Saturday that the guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper sailed near the Paracel Islands, known as the Xisha Islands in China, in an operation known as a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP). The US began regularly conducting FONOPs to challenge China’s claims in the South China Sea in 2015.
The area where the USS Hopper conducted the FONOP is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. According to The South China Morning Post, the Chinese military said it “warned off” the US warship after it entered the Xisha Islands’ territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles from a coastline.
“The serious violation of China’s sovereignty and security by the United States is further iron proof that it is pursuing ‘navigation hegemony’ and creating ‘militarization of the South China Sea,'” China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command said in a statement.
“It fully proves that the United States is an out-and-out ‘security risk creator of the South China Sea,’ and the ‘biggest disrupter’ of peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the statement said.
The US and its allies have been increasing their military activity in the South China Sea and other areas near China as part of the US-led military buildup in the region. On Friday, an Australian warship transited the sensitive Taiwan Strait, prompting China’s Foreign Ministry to war against “provocative actions.”
The following day, the Australian warship that transited the Taiwan Strait began a joint patrol with the Philippine military in the South China Sea, a first for military cooperation between Manila and Canberra. Last week, the US and the Philippines restarted joint air patrols in the disputed waters.
A Disruptor of peace ? , that`s putting it mildly , i would say they are WARMONGERS second to none .
I agree with you. I’m outraged. It’s an insult to the humanity of “disruptors of peace!”
Yes, and this a theme China will continue to follow because ASEAN countries would rather not be involved in a US-driven war in their area. Even Philippines is being shy (so far) about invoking the US Mutual Defense Treaty at 2d Thomas Shoal.
China called the US the “biggest disrupter of peace” in the South China Sea after a US warship sailed near Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed waters.
i’m guessing that China simply watched it sail on by because it is all just business as usual
. . from the CIA World Factbook–
from Newsweek, Navy wants it both ways:
NW:The U.S. Navy said the USS Hopper had “asserted navigational rights in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law,” before carrying on with operations. The Paracels are a collection of coral islands that are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
>Sure, these ‘claims’ that Navy learned about somehow are designed to question China sovereignty. . .But if we don’t believe that claim, as we shouldn’t, because China has occupied those islands for 74 years, then
let’s go for “innocent passage” through territorial waters.
NW: “Beijing, Taipei and Hanoi all need “permission or advance notification before a military vessel or warship engages in ‘innocent passage’ through their territorial sea, in violation of international law,” the U.S. Navy said.”. . .here
>UNCLOS, –SUBSECTION C.
RULES APPLICABLE TO WARSHIPS AND OTHER GOVERNMENT SHIPS OPERATED FOR NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Article 19 defines innocent passage as: Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State.
Article 30. Non-compliance by warships with the laws and regulations of the coastal State (p. 31)
If any warship does not comply with the laws and regulations of the coastal State concerning passage through the territorial sea and disregards any request for compliance therewith which is made to it, the coastal State may require it to leave the territorial sea immediately..
. .
The US borrows the gas money to send genocidal trouble makers all over the world. Traitors borrow and spend for perpetual war.