U.S. sails warship near Chinese-claimed reef in South China Sea

[inanna]

Source: Reuters

Tue May 10, 2016 2:00am EDT


A U.S. navy warship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea on Tuesday, a U.S. Department of Defense official said, days after China warned criticism of its claim would rebound like a coiled spring.

The freedom of navigation operation by the USS William P. Lawrence, traveling within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-occupied Fiery Cross Reef, was to "challenge excessive maritime claims of some claimants in the South China Sea", Defence Department spokesman Bill Urban said.

"These excessive maritime claims are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention in that they purport to restrict the navigation rights that the United States and all states are entitled to exercise," Urban said in an emailed statement.

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The Pentagon last month called on China to reaffirm it has no plans to deploy military aircraft in the disputed Spratly Islands after Beijing used a military plane to evacuate sick workers from the Fiery Cross airstrip.

The move comes ahead of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to Vietnam later this month.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-usa-china-idUSKCN0Y10DM?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

[Eugene]

1. Story updated at link: China scrambles fighters as U.S. sails warship near Chinese-claimed reef

Source: Reuters

World | Tue May 10, 2016 12:52pm EDT

China scrambles fighters as U.S. sails warship near Chinese-claimed reef

BEIJING/HONG KONG | BY MICHAEL MARTINA, GREG TORODE AND BEN BLANCHARD

China scrambled fighter jets on Tuesday as a U.S. navy ship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea, a patrol China denounced as an illegal threat to peace which only went to show its defense installations in the area were necessary.

Guided missile destroyer the USS William P. Lawrence traveled within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of Chinese-occupied Fiery Cross Reef, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bill Urban said.

The so-called freedom of navigation operation was undertaken to "challenge excessive maritime claims" by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam which were seeking to restrict navigation rights in the South China Sea, Urban said.

"These excessive maritime claims are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention in that they purport to restrict the navigation rights that the United States and all states are entitled to exercise," Urban said in an emailed statement.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-usa-china-idUSKCN0Y10DM?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

[inanna]

3. Thanks for update. n/t

[EX500rider]

2. "China Trains To Win In The End"

May 10, 2016: In May 2016 Chinese warships in the South China Sea were seen practicing detailed exercises for halting merchant ships and boarding them. China claims to control all of the South China Sea but the rest of the world does not agree with that. The May exercises are another sign that China does not care what the world thinks. In one part of the exercise the intercepting destroyer fired its guns, as it would to force a ship that refused orders to halt and be boarded. This is all part of a trend that is not going anywhere good.

Already commercial airlines are complying with Chinese demands (which have no legal standing) that aircraft check in with Chinese air control before entering formerly international airspace now claimed by China. Now it is feared China will demand the same compliance from commercial shipping. Efforts to control foreign fishing boats have met a lot of opposition but owners of the big tankers and cargo ships are expected to just go along. The Chinese want to establish a history of other nations accepting Chinese claims so that when the Chinese to use force to control who enters the international waters of the South China Sea the only way to stop that will be for foreign warships to attack the interdicting Chinese warships. China believes no country will be able to resist this gradual assertion of control.

Yet there is resistance. Starting in early 2015 the U.S. said it would send warships into the South China Sea at least twice every three months from then on. Those ships deliberately challenge Chinese claims to own the South China Sea. China believes it can handle these American intrusions without triggering a disastrous (especially for China) war because the U.S. Navy only has 55 warships assigned to the West Pacific while the China has 116 warships assigned to its southern fleet plus 200 large (over 500 tons) seagoing coast guard vessels in the area. Plus China can use Chinese commercial vessels to help out. China uses all these ships to aggressively confront American (or any other) ships that come close to Chinese ships or claimed territory in the South China Sea. This sort of aggressiveness has not been experienced by American warships on such a scale since the Cold War when Russian warships would risk collision in what American sailors came to call "Chicken Of The Sea." All this is reminiscent of Cold War incidents, usually involving Russian ships harassing American ships by moving very close, or even on a collision course. This was all for the purpose of interfering with U.S. intelligence operations, especially those off the Russian coast. Earlier in the Cold War Russian warplanes would fire on American intelligence gathering aircraft, shooting some of them down. This sort of thing declined when the U.S. quietly informed the Russians that American warships and combat aircraft would aggressively return fire. By the end of the 1960s, this aggressive activity diminished to the point where it was considered a minor nuisance and even that was eliminated by a 1972 treaty. The same pattern is playing out with the Chinese but for the last few years the Chinese have continued to protest American intelligence gathering activity so close (up to 22 kilometers from Chinese territory, an area that is considered “territorial waters”) as well as the South China Sea operations. Long term China believes it can win this war of wills.

http://strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf/articles/20160510.aspx