As a US Navy destroyer sails through the Beijing-controlled South China Sea, tensions rise. The United States Navy has confirmed that the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius is travelling through the South China Sea in a “freedom of navigation” operation, following China’s Monday condemnation of the “illegal” intrusion of a US warship into its waters.
“Missile destroyer USS Milius illegally intruded into the waters adjacent to the Meiji Reef in China’s Nansha Islands without the approval of the Chinese government,” the Chinese military reportedly said in a statement. Beijing’s reportedly added its Air Force “followed and carried out surveillance of the vessel”.
On the other hand, The US Navy reportedly said the destroyer had “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands, consistent with international law” and after the operation, the Milius “exited the excessive claim area and continued operations in the South China Sea”.
The ship came within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef, which is approximately 1,400 kilometres (860 miles) from the southern tip of Taiwan’s mainland, according to the news agency AFP.
As a warning to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own, the Chinese military had previously announced three-day “combat readiness patrols,” which it referred to as Joint Sword. Contact between foreign officials and Taiwan’s democratic government, according to Beijing, encourages the Taiwanese to seek formal independence, which the Chinese Communist Party claims would result in war.
The most recent military activities follow President Tsai Ing-wen’s fragile conciliatory mission to support Taiwan’s waning partnerships in Central America and lift its US support, an outing covered with a delicate gathering with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.