US Navy ship sails through Chinese-claimed waters in South China Sea

[corbe]

US Navy ship sails through Chinese-claimed waters in South China Sea

AFP 8 hrs ago


A US Navy  guided-missile destroyer sailed through waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea challenging China's claim to the area, the Navy said Wednesday.

 
© - China has established new administrative districts for the contested Paracel island chain

The USS Barry undertook the so-called "freedom of navigation operation" on Tuesday, a week after Beijing upped its claims to the region by designating an official administrative district for the islands.

The US sought to assert the "rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law," the Navy said in a statement.

"Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose an unprecedented threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight and the right of innocent passage of all ships," it said.

<..snip..>

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-navy-ship-sails-through-chinese-claimed-waters-in-south-china-sea/ar-BB13nh9J?ocid=spartanntp

[Elderberry]

Two FONOPS in Two Days: U.S. Navy Moves Through South China Sea

Radio Free Asia by Drake Long 4/29/2020

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/usa-southchinasea-04292020150319.html

A U.S. guided missile cruiser sailed Wednesday through the Spratly Islands, the U.S. Navy’s second freedom of navigation operation in two days amid heightened tension in the South China Sea.

The “innocent passage” maneuver by the USS Bunker Hill followed a separate operation by the destroyer USS Barry on Tuesday near the Paracel Islands, which lie further north, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement.

“Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight and the right of innocent passage of all ships,” spokesperson Cmdr. Reann Mommsen said.

It was the latest in a series of challenges by Washington to what it calls “unlawful” claims in the South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over most of the area, despite competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

[Smokin Joe]

By U.S. Central Intelligence Agency - Asia Maps — Perry-Castañeda Map Collection: South China Sea (Islands) 1988, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2156787

[corbe]

China says it 'expelled' U.S. Navy vessel from South China Sea

Adela Suliman and Eric Baculinao and Leou Chen and Ed Flanagan 2 hrs ago

China's military has said it "expelled" a U.S. navy vessel from the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea this week. It said the "USS Barry" had illegally entered China's Xisha territorial waters on Tuesday.


© US Navy/Samuel Hardgrove Image: The Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) conducting underway operations

China's Southern Theater army command "organized sea and air forces to track, monitor, verify, and identify the U.S. ships throughout the journey, and warned and expelled them," said Chinese military spokesperson Li Huamin, in a statement.

"The provocative actions of the United States seriously violated relevant international law norms, seriously violated China's sovereignty and security interests, artificially increased regional security risks, and were prone to cause unexpected incidents," he said.

<..snip..>

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-says-it-expelled-us-navy-vessel-from-south-china-sea/ar-BB13q70d?ocid=spartanntp

[skeeter]

Chuck Fina.

[Elderberry]

China claims with no proof it ‘expelled’ US Navy warship from disputed South China Sea

American Military News by Ryan Morgan   April 30, 2020

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/04/china-claims-with-no-proof-it-expelled-us-navy-warship-from-disputed-south-china-sea/

The Chinese military is claiming it expelled a U.S. Navy ship on Tuesday that entered the disputed South China Sea, despite the Navy’s ongoing, weeks-long presence there.

The U.S. Navy ship in question, the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry, allegedly crossed into China’s Xisha territorial waters, the Chinese military claimed in a statement. Xisha is the Chinese name applied to the disputed Paracel Islands located in the South China Sea.

“The southern theater of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army organized sea and air forces to track, monitor, verify, and identify the US ships throughout the journey, and warned and expelled them,” the translated statement reads. “The provocative actions of the United States seriously violated relevant international law norms, seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security interests, artificially increased regional security risks, and were prone to cause unexpected incidents. “

More at link.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The historical weakness of the Chinese is its navy.  The only challenge it can give us is with land based military action.  I bet all of those built up islands have airstrips on them.

[Smokin Joe]

The historical weakness of the Chinese is its navy.  The only challenge it can give us is with land based military action.  I bet all of those built up islands have airstrips on them.

And shore to ship and anti-air missile systems, too.