Beijing: A US destroyer sails off the Paracel Islands South China Sea on Wednesday, attracting an angry response from Beijing, which said its military “shunned” the ship after illegally entering territorial waters.
The United States regularly calls on the Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea, challenging restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China and other claimants.
us Navy Said that the USS Benfold “emphasizes navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, in line with international law”.
“Illegal and extensive maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedoms of the sea, including freedom of navigation and overflight, free trade and free commerce, and economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral countries. ”
China says it does not obstruct freedom of navigation or overflight, accusing the United States of deliberately inciting tensions.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command said the US ship’s actions seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security and illegally entered China’s territorial waters around the Paracels, which Vietnam and Taiwan also claim. .
“The Southern Theater Command of the PLA organizes the Marine and Air Force to follow, monitor, warn and steer the ship”, showing photographs of Benfold taken from the deck of the Chinese battleship Jianning.
“The facts show once again that the United States is no less than a ‘security risk maker in the South China Sea’ and a ‘destroyer of regional peace and stability.
China took control of the Paracel Islands from the then South Vietnamese government in 1974.
Monday marked the sixth anniversary of a ruling by an international tribunal that invalidated China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea, a conduit for ship-borne trade worth nearly $3 trillion every year.
China never accepted this decision.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei all have competing and often overlapping claims.
China has built artificial islands on parts of its South China Sea, including airports, raising regional concerns about Beijing’s intentions.
The United States regularly calls on the Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea, challenging restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China and other claimants.
us Navy Said that the USS Benfold “emphasizes navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, in line with international law”.
“Illegal and extensive maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedoms of the sea, including freedom of navigation and overflight, free trade and free commerce, and economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral countries. ”
China says it does not obstruct freedom of navigation or overflight, accusing the United States of deliberately inciting tensions.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command said the US ship’s actions seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security and illegally entered China’s territorial waters around the Paracels, which Vietnam and Taiwan also claim. .
“The Southern Theater Command of the PLA organizes the Marine and Air Force to follow, monitor, warn and steer the ship”, showing photographs of Benfold taken from the deck of the Chinese battleship Jianning.
“The facts show once again that the United States is no less than a ‘security risk maker in the South China Sea’ and a ‘destroyer of regional peace and stability.
China took control of the Paracel Islands from the then South Vietnamese government in 1974.
Monday marked the sixth anniversary of a ruling by an international tribunal that invalidated China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea, a conduit for ship-borne trade worth nearly $3 trillion every year.
China never accepted this decision.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei all have competing and often overlapping claims.
China has built artificial islands on parts of its South China Sea, including airports, raising regional concerns about Beijing’s intentions.