Beijing (Reuters)-China’s military said on Wednesday that they monitored and “pushed” a US-sailing war ship near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the Southern Sea of China, while the US Navy said its action was in accordance with international law.
The first known US military operation in at least six years within the water bank waters occurred a day after the Philippines accused the Chinese vessels of “hazardous maneuvers and illegal interference” during a supply mission around the atoll.
In a statement, the Southern Army Theater Command said the USS Higgins had entered the waters “without the approval of the Chinese government” on Wednesday.
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“US action has seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, severely damaging peace and stability in the Southern Sea of China,” he added, promising to maintain a “maximum warning all the time.”
In response, the seventh US Navy fleet said: “China’s statement about this mission is false,” adding that Higgins had “claimed rights and freedoms of navigation” near Scarborough Shoal “according to international law.”
The operation reflected the US commitment to defend freedom of navigation and the legal uses of the sea, the seventh fleet told Reuters in a statement sent by email.
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“The United States are defending their right to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Higgins has done here. Nothing China says otherwise will deter.”
China claims almost the entire Southern Sea of China, overlapping the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam. For years, unresolved disputes have worsened in relation to the ownership of various islands and locations in the region.
The US regularly performs “freedom of navigation” operations in the Southern Sea of China, challenging what they say are restrictions on the passage imposed by China and other complainants.
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Scarborough Shoal has been one of the main sources of tension in the strategic channel for over $ 3 trillion of annual ships.
The actions of the Chinese vessels on the sandbar this week also resulted in a collision of two of them, the Philippines said, the first known in the area.
On Wednesday, the Philippine Coast Guard said the goal of the two Chinese vessels was to “completely block” their approach to Scarborough Shoal.
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On Monday, China’s Coast Guard said it had taken “necessary measures” to expel the Philippine Vessels from the water.
In 2016, an international arbitration court decided that there was no basis in international law for Beijing’s claims, based on its historical maps. However, China does not recognize this decision.
(Report of the Beijing and Ben Blanchard Newsroom in Taipei; an additional report by Karen Lema in Manila)
