US Navy stages back-to-back challenges to Beijing's South China Sea claims
By Brad Lendon, CNN
Updated 1:02 AM ET, Thu April 30, 2020
Why it matters who owns the seas 03:48
Hong Kong (CNN)A United States Navy warship conducted a "freedom of navigation operation" Wednesday aimed in part at challenging China's claims in the South China Sea, the second such operation in as many days near disputed islands that the US has accused Beijing of militarizing.
The operations come amid heightened tension between Washington and Beijing over the handling of the coronavirus and after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of exploiting attention given the pandemic to "bully" its neighbors in the South China Sea (SCS).
The guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill on Wednesday "asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the Spratly Islands, consistent with international law," said Cmdr. Reann Mommsen, a spokesperson for the Navy's 7th Fleet, in a statement.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/30/asia/south-china-sea-us-navy-freedom-of-navigation-intl-hnk/index.html
