The operation targeted excessive Chinese maritime claims in the Paracel Islands.
On Monday, a U. S. Navy Arleigh Burke -class guided-missile destroyer sailed near islands disputed between China, Vietnam, and Taiwan in the South China Sea. USS McCampbell, the destroyer, carried out a new freedom of navigation operation, sailing within 12 nautical miles of islands in the Paracel Islands group in the South China Sea in what the U. S. Pacific Fleet said was an operation to “to challenge excessive maritime claims.”
Previous U. S. Navy surface operations of this kind have challenged China’s requirements for prior notification before the conduct of innocent passage transits in the 12 nautical mile zone of the features it occupies in the Paracel group. Notably, Woody Island in the Paracels hosts China’s largest island facility in the South China Sea, which has more than 1,000 permanently stationed military personnel and an airstrip capable of accommodating fighters.
As with previous operations, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the U. S. operation. “We urge the United States to immediately cease this kind of provocation,” said Lu Kang, a spokesperson for the ministry.
