The U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet confirmed Feb. 17 that the guided-missile destroyer USS Russell cruised the Spratly Islands that day, again challenging the Chinese Communist Party‘s claim to the waters. In a statement, the U.S. Navy stressed that the USS Russell’s action upholds the Spratly Islands’ right to free navigation and is consistent with international law.
Reuters reports that the Communist Party’s wide-ranging claims to sovereignty in the South China Sea have increasingly become another indicator of how the U.S. and China are testing their bilateral relationship in addition to trade, the origin of the New Guinea virus, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and human rights oppression against Uighur Muslims. Washington has publicly condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to engage in a power rivalry and bully its neighbors, while Beijing has criticized the U.S. actions for causing regional unrest and interfering in its internal affairs.
The report said the U.S. warships’ approach to the Communist Party-controlled Xisha Islands last month was followed by another trip to the Spratly Islands following exercises by two major U.S. carriers in the South China Sea. The series of moves underscore that the Biden administration, following Trump, has not weakened its efforts to challenge the Chinese Communist Party’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.
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