A U.S. Navy destroyer has carried out another U.S. freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea.
In a statement, the Navy’s Seventh Fleet said the Burke-class destroyer USS RUSSELL DDG-59 conducted the freedom of navigation operation Wednesday (Feb. 17, 2021) in the Spratly Islands, or Spratlys, as China calls them, to defend the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea under international law by “challenging illegal restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan. The operation was conducted to defend the rights, freedoms and legitimate uses of the sea under international law by “challenging the illegal restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan”.
China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines all claim sovereignty over all or part of the Spratly Islands. China, Vietnam and Taiwan all require permission or prior notice for foreign warships to make innocent passage in territorial waters, but international law does not allow these countries to make such provisions unilaterally, the Seventh Fleet statement said. The statement said the U.S. imposes innocent passage without prior notification or seeking permission from these claimants in order to challenge these unlawful restrictions and to demonstrate to the world that innocent passage is not subject to these restrictions, regardless of who the sovereign claimant is.
On February 5 of this year, the guided missile destroyer USS McCain entered the disputed waters of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands) in the South China Sea to conduct a freedom of navigation operation, the first related U.S. action since the Biden administration took office.
China has always opposed the U.S. military’s freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party’s foreign affairs bureau, said last month that China is willing to work with the United States to promote bilateral relations along a track of non-confrontation, non-conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, but warned the United States that issues such as the South China Sea, which involves China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, are “off-limits.
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