A US Navy warship on Saturday challenged Chinese language claims to disputed islands within the South China Sea, the US seventh Fleet stated in a press release - the second operation of its form this week.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold sailed close to the Spratly Islands - often called the Nansha Islands in China - within the southeastern South China Sea in a so-called "freedom of navigation operation" (FONOP), the seventh Fleet assertion stated.
The US Navy operation within the island chain the place China has constructed navy fortifications on man-made islands challenged "restrictions on harmless passage imposed by the Individuals's Republic of China (PRC), Vietnam, and Taiwan," the assertion stated.
"In violation of worldwide legislation, the PRC, Vietnam, and Taiwan purport to require both permission or advance notification earlier than a navy vessel engages in 'harmless passage' by the territorial sea of the related characteristic," it added.
"Territorial sea" refers back to the waters inside 12 nautical miles of a nation's shoreline as recognised by worldwide legislation.
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The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei additionally declare sovereignty over components of the Spratly Islands, however the US Navy assertion didn't say its warship was difficult any of their claims.
Saturday's operation was the fourth FONOP difficult Chinese language claims this 12 months and the second such operation for the Benfold prior to now 4 days, based on Navy statements.
On Wednesday, it carried out the identical mission within the Paracel Islands, a sequence within the northern South China Sea often called the Xisha Islands in China, which can also be claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
Beijing on Wednesday reacted angrily to the US Navy's Paracels FONOP.
"The actions of the US navy have significantly violated China's sovereignty and safety, significantly undermined the peace and stability of the South China Sea, and significantly violated worldwide legislation and norms of worldwide relations," Individuals's Liberation Military (PLA) Air Pressure Col. Tian Junli, spokesman for the Southern Theater Command, stated in a press release.
The PLA stated on Wednesday the US Navy was growing tensions within the area.
"Information as soon as once more present that america is an out-and-out 'South China Sea Threat Maker' and 'Disruptors of Regional Peace and Stability,'" the PLA assertion stated.
However Washington says the imposition of extreme maritime claims by China and others "pose a severe risk to the liberty of the seas, together with the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free commerce and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of financial alternative."