Tension grows between the US and China in the South China Sea 2:52
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) --
A US Navy destroyer sailed near a disputed island chain in the South China Sea on Wednesday, defying restrictions imposed by China and other countries on transit through the area.
Lt. Nicholas Lingo, a spokesman for the US Navy's 7th Fleet based in Japan, said it was the second freedom of navigation operation in the Paracel Islands, known as the Xisha Islands in China, so far. of the year, and the third targeting Beijing's "excessive maritime claims" in regional waters during the same period.
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Wednesday's operation of the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold challenged not only China, but also Vietnam and the self-governing island of Taiwan, which also claim the islands, as all three governments require military vessels to seek permission or give advance notice. anticipation of "innocent passage" through the area, Lingo said.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold is shown in a 2012 file photo.
The Paracel Islands are a collection of 130 small coral and reef islands in the northwestern South China Sea.
They have no native population, only Chinese military garrisons numbering 1,400 people, according to the CIA World Factbook.
The islands have been in the hands of China for almost 50 years and during that time they have been populated by military installations of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The PLA Operations Southern Command said it had warned the US destroyer to leave its "territorial waters."
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"The actions of the US military have seriously violated China's sovereignty and security, seriously undermined the peace and stability of the South China Sea, and seriously violated international law and the norms of international relations," he said in a statement. PLA Air Force Colonel Tian Junli, spokesman for the Southern Operations Command, said.
But Lingo, a spokesman for the US 7th Fleet, said the US destroyer's sailing "upheld the rights, freedoms and legitimate uses of the sea recognized under international law."
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"The far-reaching and illegal maritime claims on the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade, and freedom of economic opportunity for the nations littorals of the South China Sea. South China," the statement said.
"Under international law...ships of all States, including their warships, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. The unilateral imposition of any authorization or prior notification requirement for innocent passage is unlawful." "says the US Navy statement.
Enforcing freedom of navigation rights involves navigating within the 12-mile territorial limit of a nation's coastline recognized by international law.
The US Navy statement says Wednesday's operation also defied "straight baselines," which define all waters within the island chain as a single territorial claim.
ANALYSIS |
The United States Steps Up Its Actions In The Pacific As China Increasingly Surrounds The Region
"International law does not allow mainland states, such as the PRC, to establish baselines around entire scattered island groups. With these baselines, the PRC has tried to claim more inland waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf than it is entitled to under international law," the 7th Fleet statement said, referring to the People's Republic of China.
The PLA said on Wednesday that the US Navy was raising tensions in the region.
"The facts once again show that the United States is a 'total risk-maker' in the South China Sea" and a "disturber of regional peace and stability," the PLA statement said.
South China Sea US Navy