SOUTH CHINA SEA: An American warship sailed near the disputed paracel Island in the South China Sea, the US Navy has said, challanging Beijing’s claims on the resource-rich waterways and prompting a warning from the Chinese military.
Firing of ballistic missiles into the sea after the operation of ongoing live-fire exercises, held on thursday, increased high tension between Washington and Beijing. The U.S.regularly conduct “freedom of navigation operations” in the area to challenge Chinese territorial claims.
“The USS Mustin, a guided- missile destroyer, sailed Thursday”, said U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet in a statement. In the vicinity of the Paracel Island to ensure critial shipping lanes in the area remain free and open.”
The Chinese military on Friday accused the US ship of entering “China’s territorial waters” near the islands “without authorisation”.
Chinese forces tracked the warship and then warned it to leave, said military spokesman Li Huamin.
In recent times China has shown its aggressiveness to pursue its territorial claims in the South China Sea, building small shoals and reefs into military bases with airstrip and port facilities.
The other countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan also have compitition with China in claiming South China Sea and therefore also on international trade worth of trillions of dollars passed a year.
Tension have risen this week in the area near the Parcel Islands –called Xisha by Beijing — where the Chinese military has been conducting exercises. Beijing on Tuesday blamed Washington of flying a U-2 spy plane into a no-fly zone to distrupt the drills — which included the ballastic missile launches.
Thereafter pentagon accused China of destabilising the region and using the military for “unlawful maritime claims” in a statement criticising the exercises and the use of ballistic missile in the drills.
The china is of opinion that US “repeatedly provoked trouble in the South China Sea”, urging it to “immediately stop such provocative actions.”
