US reveals it exercised right to freedom of navigation against China in the South China Sea and other nations around the world
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1938505/us-reveals-it-exercised-right-freedom-navigationSino-US ties have been strained after the US Navy has carried out a series of patrols near islands Beijing is developing in disputed areas of the South China Sea
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 26 April, 2016, 10:12am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 26 April, 2016, 4:43pm
22 Apr 2016
The US military conducted “freedom of navigation” operations against mainland China, Taiwan and 11 other countries last year, including several in dispute of China’s claims in the South and East China seas, according to an annual Pentagon report.
The operations were against China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, the Maldives, Oman, the Philippines and Vietnam, the report said.
It did not specify how many operations were conducted against each of those countries.
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The freedom of navigation operations involve sending US Navy ships and military aircraft into areas where other countries have tried to limit access. The aim is to demonstrate that the international community does not accept such restrictions.
The US military has repeatedly conducted operations disputing China’s maritime claims in recent years and did so again in 2015, a year in which Beijing’s island-building activity in the resource-rich areas of the South China Sea led to rising tensions in the region.
China’s Ministry of Defence released a statement on its website on Monday before the release of the report by Pentagon.
It said China was concerned about “US moves to push the militarisation of the South China Sea in the name of ‘freedom of navigation’”.
The statement was in response to media report that six US Air Force planes performed a mission in “international airspace” near Scarborough Shoal , known as Huangyan Island in Chinese, in a disputed area of the South China Sea on April 19.
It said the island was “China’s inherent territory and the Chinese military will take all necessary measures to safeguard national sovereignty and security”.
A US guided-missile destroyer also conducted a freedom of navigation patrol near one of China’s man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago in October. US military flights near the islands have been warned to go away.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said the Navy would continue to operate in the region despite China’s condemnation of the patrols.
Admiral Harry Harris, the head of US Pacific Command, said this year the Navy would step up the freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea because of concerns China is attempting to assert its dominance by building military facilities there.
US freedom of navigation operations last year also challenged China’s claims of jurisdiction in the airspace above its maritime exclusive economic zone as well as restrictions it has tried to impose on aircraft flying through an air defence identification Zone over the East China Sea.
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The number of countries the United States challenged last year was down from 2014 when it targeted 19 countries. That was the largest number in more than a decade.
Iran and the Philippines have been the most frequently challenged countries over the years, mainly because they sit astride heavily travelled sea lanes whose use they have tried to limit or govern.
