A U.S. Navy warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island claimed by China in the South China Sea on Wednesday, an operation that showed a new firmness by the Trump administration in its dealings with Beijing.
The USS Dewey sailed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, not far from the Philippines, US defense officials said.
The operation may tamp down concerns among US allies that the Trump administration had been unwilling to confront China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, as it seeks Beijing’s cooperation on issues like halting North Korea’s nuclear program.
Until the operation on Wednesday, the Pentagon had turned down requests from the US Pacific Command in Hawaii, under the command of Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., for such maneuvers. Wednesday’s operation was the first freedom of navigation operation since President Donald J. Trump took office.
Trump’s initial reluctance to confront China’s territorial claims once he became president came despite his criticism during the campaign of the Obama administration’s handling of the issue. In an interview with The New York Times in March 2016, Trump said Beijing had built in the South China Sea “a military fortress, the likes of which perhaps the world has not seen”. The naval operation on Wednesday was being interpreted as a welcome sign of US engagement in the South China Sea by allies of the United States in the region.
Even so, Australia, whose economy is highly dependent on exports to China, has declined to participate in the US-led military operations, arguing that China now controls the Spratly Islands, where Beijing has placed military weapons and runways for fighter jets.
“Australia is extremely reluctant to participate in freedom of navigation operations that involve flying over or sailing through the 12 nautical miles around the islands,” said Alan Dupont, a former Australian defense intelligence official.
“The Australian government feels it would be provocative and upset China,” Dupont said. “It feels it would be counterproductive now that China has militarized the islands.”
Allies would be watching to see how consistent the Trump administration would be on the South China Sea, some analysts said.
Appear responsive
“It appears that US decision-makers sought to be responsive to calls for continued FON [freedom of navigation] operations following reports that none had been conducted this year,” Graham Webster, a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s China Center, wrote in an e-mail. “By saying the government will not make further operations public before the annual report, they may seek to avoid the persistent public calls for public FON operations.”
The US carries out FON operations by sending navy ships and aircraft near disputed waters to demonstrate the right to fly and sail through what it considers to be international waters and airspace. Such operations need to be within 12 nautical miles of an island or territory to constitute a challenge under international law.
China’s claims to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, an international waterway that hosts more than $5 trillion of trade a year, clash with five others, including Vietnam and the Philippines. An international tribunal last year ruled China’s claims have no legal standing. China says the tribunal has no jurisdiction.
President Xi Jinping, as commander in chief of the People’s Liberation Army, inspected the PLA Navy on May 24, where he stressed its “significant role in the national security and development strategy”, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. He urged the sailors to step up efforts to “build a strong, modern naval force.” US Secretary of Defense James Mattis is due to speak to Asian defense ministers next month at a security forum in Singapore.
“We have a comprehensive Freedom of Navigation Operations program that seeks to challenge excessive maritime claims in order to preserve the rights, freedoms, and uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law,” the Defense Department said in its statement.
The New York Times News Service, Bloomberg News