BEIJING – US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper earlier criticized Beijing’spolicies in the South China Sea, accusing the nation of jeopardizingregional stability and adding that the US will maintain its routinemilitary presence in the region “to demonstrate the seriousness” of thesecommitments.
A US Navy Seventh Fleet spokeswoman, Commander Reann Mommsen, cited byReuters, said that US Navy warships sailed near disputed territories in theSouth China Sea on Wednesday and Thursday and that the current ‘Freedom ofNavigation’ operation involved the Paracel Islands and Mischief Reef.
The Chinese military said that it tracked the passage of the US Navy fleetnear the islands and urged Washington to stop what it referred to asprovocative acts.
The maritime passage in the South China Sea is a sticking point inrelations between Washington and Beijing, as well as angering several othernations in the region, including Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, thePhilippines and Taiwan.
A majority of islands in the South China Sea are currently controlled byBeijing but are also claimed by Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia and thePhilippines. While China accuses the Philippines and Vietnam of using USsupport for escalating tensions, Washington questions Beijing’s commitmentto peacefully resolving the maritime dispute.
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In 2016, an international arbitration panel in The Hague rejected China’sclaim of owning the entire South China Sea. China unilaterally rejected theruling and built military bases on disputed territories on both sides ofthe sea.
US military activities near the disputed islands have angered the Chinesegovernment. In May, China protested what it claimed was an unauthorizedpassage by a US military ship near the disputed Scarborough Reef in theSouth China Sea, considering it a violation of Chinese sovereignty. -Sputnik
