Navy Times by Geoff Ziezulewicz 7/14/2020
A day after the White House announced it would reject nearly all of China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. warship Ralph Johnson steamed through the contested waters Tuesday, according to U.S. 7th Fleet officials.
The guided-missile destroyer navigated near the Spratly Islands, a network of islands and man-made atolls created by Beijing in recent years and militarily fortified to bolster China’s claims that such territory is theirs, not international waters.
But the United States and other western powers continue to contend the busy waters are international, resulting in displays like the Ralph Johnson freedom of navigation operation, known in mil-speak as a FONOP.
In a statement, the Navy’s Japan-based U.S. 7th Fleet said Tuesday’s FONOP “upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging the restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.â€
Several of the Spratlys are claimed by countries abutting the South China Sea.
More:
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2020/07/14/us-warship-sails-contested-waters-in-south-china-sea-after-white-house-rejects-chinas-maritime-claims-there/
