Pentagon challenges China’s claim to disputed island as it sends US Navy warship close to the shore in second such operation since May
On Sunday, Pentagon sent the USS Stethem to Triton Island in South East Asia
China, Taiwan and Philippines all claim Triton but China has built a base on it
US sailed within 12 miles of the island – within waters China claims as its own
It was trailed by a Chinese warship while it completed its international mission
The operation was to emphasize that the waters are international, not territorial
In May the US ran a similar voyage to one of China’s man-made islands in the sea
DAILYMAIL.COM
2 July 2017
For the second time in just over two months, the US has challenged China’s claim to the South China Sea and a number of disputed islands within it.
On Sunday the Pentagon sent a destroyer, the USS Stethem, to sail close to the shore of Triton Island – one of a number in the Paracel Island chain that China claims ownership of.
In response, China trailed the US destroyer with one of its own warships, two US defense officials told Fox News.
According to international law, countries’ territories extend 12 miles out from their shores.
So by sailing within that distance of Triton, the Stethem dismissed China’s claim to both the island and the waters around it.
The US calls these voyages ‘freedom of navigation operations’ or FONOPS, because they are intended to reinforce the territories as international waters.
Although China has constructed a base on the island to reinforce its claim, both Taiwan and the Philippines say they are the rightful owners of the island.
The Pentagon said that it was challenging those countries’ claims to the island too. Washington is particularly concerned about China placing ground-to-air missiles on the chain.
Lt Cmdr Matt Knight, a spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet, would not confirm the operation.
But he did say: ‘We conduct routine and regular FONOPs, as we have done in the past and will continue to do in the future.’
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