China expresses anger at US warship entering South China Sea, sends own destroyers in response

THE United States did something bold yesterday, sending a warship into waters claimed by China. The Asian giant has reacted angrily.

‘Provocation’ ... China has reacted angrily to the US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen entering what it claims to be its territorial waters. Source: AP

CHINA has summoned the US ambassador in Beijing to protest the presence of a warship in what it claims as its national waters, and has deployed two of its own destroyers to counter further “incursions”.

The US Navy warship sailed past one of China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea yesterday, in a challenge to Chinese sovereignty claims that drew an angry protest from Beijing, which said the move damaged US-China relations and regional peace.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui has summoned US ambassador Max Baucus to lodge a formal protest over the issue.

China’s Foreign Ministry said authorities monitored and warned the USS Lassen as it entered what China claims as a 12 mile (21km) territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, a group of reefs, islets, and atolls where the Philippines has competing claims.

“The actions of the US warship have threatened China’s sovereignty and security interests, jeopardised the safety of personnel and facilities on the reefs, and damaged regional peace and stability,” the ministry said on its website.

“The Chinese side expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition,” the statement said.

China says virtually all of the South China Sea belongs to it, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam claim either parts or all of it. Since 2013, China has accelerated the creation of new outposts by piling sand atop reefs and atolls then adding buildings, ports and airstrips big enough to handle bombers and fighter jets.

Armed response ... The Chinese navy destroyer PLAN Lanzhou, above, is one of two warships deployed in response to the US destroyer USS Lassen passing close to Chinese artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. Source: mil.cnr.cn

Big guns ... The PLAN Taizhou will be enforcing China’s claim on the South China Sea. Source: Japanese Ministry of Defence

LOOMING CONFRONTATION

Chinese media is this morning reporting two of its own warships have been sent to waters near Subi reef to confront any further ‘trespassing’.

The guided missile destroyers Lanzhou and Taizhou will enforce China’s sovereignty on the area and deter any ‘illegal’ activity’, the state-owned People’s Daily reports.

A US defence official told media that the USS Lassen had been ‘shadowed’ by Chinese vessels and aircraft for ‘weeks’ before it moved into the contentious 12 mile (21km) zone around the artificial islands.

Chinese Vice FM Zhang Yesui summons US ambassador to China Baucus to protest over US warship entered South China Sea pic.twitter.com/QgPK6SkUn3

— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) October 27, 2015

The China Daily reports its warships issued warnings to the approaching USS Lassen ‘in accordance with laws’.

It quotes National Defence spokesman Yang Yujun as saying Beijing “will take all necessary measures to safeguard its own security”.

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The US official said the Chinese ships maintained a safe distance and that there were ‘no incidents’ as the USS Lassen travelled 116km through contested waters.

Hel said the US Navy will send more warships to sail close to the artificial islands.

“I would expect that this becomes a regular operation in the South China Sea,” he said. “This type of operation shouldn’t be seen as provocative.’

Outrage ... Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang speaks at a news conference in Beijing, delivering an angry rebuke from Beijing, which said it warned and followed the American vessel. Source: Reuters

WAR OF WORDS

The US Obama administration has long said it will exercise a right to freedom of navigation in any international waters.

“Make no mistake, the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as we do around the world, and the South China Sea is not and will not be an exception,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said earlier this month.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said China adhered to international law regarding freedom of navigation and flight, but “resolutely opposes the damaging of China’s sovereignty and security interests in the name of free navigation and flight.”

BACKGROUNDER: Why is the South China Sea boiling over?

“China will firmly deal with provocations from other countries,” the statement said, adding that China would continue to monitor the air and sea and take further action when necessary.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kong said such actions by the US might end up spurring further advances in Chinas defence capabilities.

“If any country wishes to disrupt or impede China’s reasonable, justifiable and lawful activities on our own territories by playing some little tricks, I would advise these countries to cast off this fantasy,” Lu said.

He rejected suggestions the US was demonstrating freedom of passage by also sailing through waters claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines.

CHINA RESPONDS: Read the official translation of Lu Kong’s statement here

“Gimmicks like conducting patrols around South China Sea features built up by Vietnam and the Philippines — which have illegally occupied some of China’s islands — cannot conceal to which side the United States is tilted.”

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and China have made little headway in the past decade on negotiating a binding code of conduct in the South China Sea, which is a major conduit for world trade.

Border issue ... President Benigno Aquino gestures while saying he "sees no issue" in a US warship's patrol in the disputed South China Sea that he welcomes a balance of power in the region. Source: Reuters

INTERNATIONAL CONCERN

US ally the Philippines welcomed the move as a way of helping maintain “a balance of power.”

Navy officials had said the sail-past was necessary to assert the US position that China’s man-made islands cannot be considered sovereign territory with the right to surrounding territorial waters.

Speaking to foreign correspondents in Manila, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said he supported the US naval manoeuvres as an assertion of freedom of navigation and as a means to balance power in the region.

“I think expressing support for established norms of international behaviour should not be a negative for a country,” he said. “I think everybody would welcome a balance of power anywhere in the world.”

Without identifying China by name, he said “one regional power” has been making “controversial pronouncements” that must not be left unchallenged.

#Spratlys Airstrip: Is Mischief Reef Next? http://t.co/5YP7UVVv9W pic.twitter.com/CykChpKeqA

— AMTI (@AsiaMTI) October 19, 2015

Indonesia’s president has called for all parties in the disputed South China Sea to exercise restraint and for China and Southeast Asia’s regional bloc to start discussions on the substance of a code of conduct to manage tensions there.

President Joko Widodo was speaking in Washington, hours after the US Navy warship sailed past one of China’s artificial islands in the Spratly Islands archipelago i.

Widodo, who met President Barack Obama earlier this week, did not directly refer to the US action. He said Indonesia supports freedom of navigation but also underlined his nation’s neutrality.

Indonesia has islands that may fall within China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, but doesn’t count itself as one of the claimants to the disputed islands and reefs.

“Indonesia is not a party to the dispute but we have a legitimate interest in peace and stability there,” he said. “We call on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that could undermine trust and confidence and put at risk the peace and stability of the region.”

Heart of the matter ... Chinese dredging vessels are seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy. Source: US Navy

POWER STRUGGLE

Beijing’s response closely mirrored its actions in May when a navy dispatcher warned off a US Navy P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef, where China has conducted extensive reclamation work.

A Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the USS Lassen’s movements, said the patrol was completed without incident. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, declined to comment.

International law permits military vessels the right of “innocent passage” in transiting other country’s seas without notification. China’s Foreign Ministry, though, labelled the ship’s actions as illegal.

PLA anticraft artillery army launches live-fire drill at night pic.twitter.com/5R9YnwP1Sj

— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) October 27, 2015

The US says it doesn’t take a position on sovereignty over the South China Sea but insists on freedom of navigation and overflight. About 30 per cent of global trade passes through the South China Sea, which also has rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of undersea mineral deposits.

China says it respects the right of navigation but has never specified the exact legal status of its maritime claims. China says virtually all of the South China Sea belongs to it, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam claim either parts or all of it.

Force command ... US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift speaks during an interview in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, yesterday. Swift says it’s up to policymakers in Washington whether his sailors patrol within 12 nautical miles of newly constructed islands claimed by China in the South China Sea, but they are ready to do so if asked. Source: AP

ROUGH WATERS AHEAD

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday the US would not be required to consult with other nations if it decided to conduct freedom of navigation operations in international waters.

“The whole point of freedom of navigation in international waters is that it’s international waters. You don’t need to consult with anybody,” Kirby said.

The Hong Kong Garrison of the PLA holds joint military drills in Hong Kong pic.twitter.com/gQf7NjvaW5

— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) October 27, 2015

The South China Sea has become an increasingly sore point in relations with the United States, even as President Barack Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping have sought to deepen cooperation in other areas.

Despite those tensions, exchanges between the two militaries have continued to expand, with a US Navy delegation paying visits last week to China’s sole aircraft carrier and a submarine warfare academy.