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A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed through a disputed area of South China Sea on Monday, pushing back against territorial claims by China amid rising bilateral tensions, the Seventh Fleet said in a statement.
The destroyer USS Milius sailed near Mischief Reef, part of the Spratly Islands where China has built up several military bases and deployed missiles in recent years.
The warship made the “freedom of navigation operation” (FONOP) within 12 nautical miles of the reef and then continued operations nearby, Seventh Fleet spokesman Lt. Luka Bakic said, in a symbolic demonstration to uphold “the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea.”
The USS Milius, he added, “demonstrated that Mischief Reef, a low-tide elevation in its natural state, is not entitled to a territorial sea under international law.”
A Chinese military spokesman said the Milius “illegally trespassed” without Chinese government approval. Chinese military aircraft and warships tracked and monitored the Milius, said a spokesman for the PLA southern theater command.
“China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters,” the spokesman said. “The troops of the PLA southern theater command will always stay on high alert and resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty and security, as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
China’s People’s Liberation Army said in a statement the three-day exercises prove Beijing is prepared to do what it takes to back up China’s claims to sovereignty over Taiwan.
“The theater’s troops are ready to fight at all times and can fight at any time to resolutely smash any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ and foreign interference attempts,” the Chinese military statement said Monday.
