The South China Sea has a vast stretch of islands and reefs, as well asmarine and mineral resources, which are the subject of conflicting claimsby several regional players. The US and its allies regularly sail theirwarships past China-claimed pieces of land to challenge its appetites;Beijing insists such moves are a threat to its sovereignty.
The US Navy has commented on the recent passage of its warship near thecontested Parcel Islands, after Beijing objected to the manoeuvre in thehighly-sensitive South China Sea.
“China, Taiwan, and Vietnam each claim sovereignty over the ParacelIslands,” the US Navy said in a statement. “The unilateral imposition ofany authorisation or notification requirement for innocent passage is notpermitted by international law, so the United States challenged theserequirements.”
The US military has sailed the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyernear the Paracel Islands (called Xisha Islands in Chinese) this week in ashow of defiance against Beijing’s territorial claims in the South ChinaSea. The Chinese Defence Ministry stated the warship had “trespassed intowaters off China’s Xisha Islands without the permission of the Chinesegovernment”.
Read Top Stories
China’s island and maritime claims cover most of the South China Sea andare contested in places by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,Taiwan, and Vietnam. Most of the region is still controlled by China,which doesnot recognise the rulings of international bodieslinkregardingits claims in the area.
