REUTERS — China condemned the U.S. action after its warship sailed near an island claimed by China in disputed South China Sea, state media reported on Sunday (January 31).
A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of an island claimed by China and two other states in the South China Sea on Saturday (January 30) to counter efforts to limit freedom of navigation, the Pentagon said, prompting an angry reaction from Beijing.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said no ships from China’s military were in the vicinity of the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur when it passed near Triton Island in the Paracel Islands.
The U.S. Navy conducted a similar exercise in October in which the guided-missile destroyer Lassen sailed close to one of China’s man-made islands, also drawing a rebuke from Beijing.
China condemned the U.S. action as provocative.
“The American warship has violated relevant Chinese laws by entering Chinese territorial waters without prior permission, and the Chinese side has taken relevant measures including monitoring and admonishments according to law. China urges U.S. to respect and abide by the relevant Chinese laws and take more actions that could be beneficial for mutual trust between China and U.S., and could be beneficial for regional peace and stability,” China’s state broadcaster CCTV quoted a statement from its Foreign Ministry website.
China’s defence ministry calling the American action “intentionally provocative and “irresponsible and extremely dangerous”.
The ministry also said that Chinese navy vessels had taken responsive action, conducted identification checks and promptly gave warnings for the ship to keep its distance.
“The action taken by U.S. has severely violated the law and jeopardized the peace, stability and the sound order in the relevant waters, and it is not beneficial for the regional peace and stability. Chinese Defence Ministry expresses the resolute opposition about it. Regardless of whatever provocative steps the American side takes, China’s military will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and security,” the ministry statement concluded.
The operation followed calls in Congress for the Obama administration to follow up on the October operation.
This month, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee criticized Obama for delaying further freedom of navigation patrols.
The South China Sea has become Asia’s biggest potential military flashpoint as Beijing’s sovereignty claim over the huge area has set it against Vietnam and the Philippines as the three countries race to tap possibly huge oil reserves.
In 2012 China held a ceremony marking the formal establishment of a city on one of the disputed South China Sea islands.
China has called the city Sansha city. It is located on a disputed island known as Yongxing island in China, state media said. It is known in English as Woody Island, part of the Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. China took full control of the islands in 1974 after a naval showdown with Vietnam.
The move was essentially a further assertion of its sovereignty claims.
The official Xinhua news agency said the Sansha garrison would be responsible for “national defence mobilisation … guarding the city and supporting local emergency rescue and disaster relief” and “carrying out military missions”.
