US Navy contests Chinese claims in South China Sea

• USS Benfold conducted a “freedom of navigation operation” (FONOP) near the Spratly Islands.
• China calls them the Nansha Islands, but Vietnam and Taiwan also claim them.
• The US Navy did the same in the Paracels FONOP on Wednesday.

US 7th Fleet reported a US Navy cruiser disputed Chinese claims to South China Sea islands on Saturday. This happened twice a week.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold conducted a “freedom of navigation operation” (FONOP) near the Spratly Islands. China calls the Nansha Islands. They’re in the southeast South China Sea.

US Navy activity in the island chain where China built military defenses on man-made islands disputed “innocent passage restrictions imposed by PRC. Vietnam, and Taiwan,” the statement claimed.

“The PRC, Vietnam, and Taiwan argue they need permission or advance warning before a military ship makes an “innocent passage” across the territorial sea of the relevant feature,” the paper added.

A country’s territorial sea is the water within 12 nautical miles of its coast.

Parts of the Spratly Islands are also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. However, the US Navy did not dispute any of these claims.

According to the Navy, Saturday’s action was the fourth FONOP this year to contest Chinese claims and the second in four days for the Benfold.

It did the same in the Paracels on Wednesday. These are China’s Xisha Islands, but Vietnam and Taiwan also claim them.

However, the US Navy’s Paracels FONOP angered Beijing on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said, “The US military has significantly infringed China’s sovereignty and security.

China and others’ excessive maritime claims “threaten the freedom of the seas. Including navigation and overflight, free trade, and economic opportunity,” argues Washington.

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