The chinese military has said it tracked a u.s warship that sailed through
disputed waters in the south china sea, accusing it of provocative actions
and warning of serious consequences.
The US Navy said its mission was in accordance with international law and in
line with its commitment to defend every nation's right to fly, sail and
operate wherever international law allows.
The USS Benfold sailed around the paracel islands known as the chisha
islands in china in what the navy calls Freedom Of Navigation Operation
(FONOP), Lieutenant Mark Langford spokesperson for the US 7th fleet said in
the statement.
The paracels are a collection of 130 small coral islands and reefs in the
northwestern part of the south china sea. They have no indigenous population
to speak up, only chinese military garrisons amounting to 1,400 people,
according to the cia factbook.
China reacted angrily to the presence of the Benfold and what it claims are
its territorial waters. The PLA southern theatre command organized naval and
air forces to track, monitor and drive away from the destroyer with
warnings, a statement from the chinese military said.
What the u.s has done seriously infringes on china's sovereignty and
security and is yet another hard evidence that it is pursuing maritime
hegemony and militarizing the south china sea. Facts fully prove that the US
is a risk-maker in the south china sea and the biggest destroyer of peace
and stability in the south china sea, it said.
China claims almost all of the 1.3 million square miles of the south china
sea as its sovereign territory.
At the conclusion of the operation USS Benfold exited the excessive claim
and continued operations in the south china sea, it said in an apparent
reference to China's claim of a straight maritime boundary around the
islands, which the US has accused china of declaring in an attempt to claim
more waters and territory than it is entitled to under international law.
Langford said thursday's FONOP was the second of this year against chinese
claims in the south china sea. The USS Benfold also sailed near the spratly
islands on tuesday, but he stressed it continues a long-standing u.s
military practice.
"US forces operate in the south china sea on a daily basis, as they have for
more than a century," the u.s navy statement said.
The americans aren't doing anything that they haven't done before, but of
course china will call it provocative given everything else that is going on
in their relationship. Ironically the more that china maintains these
baselines, the more they attract american and even british warships to
challenge them.
