The US military will continue to operate wherever international law allows, a top US admiral said in Beijing yesterday, a week after Washington infuriated Beijing by sailing close to artificial islands it is building in the South China Sea.
“International seas and airspace belong to everyone and are not the dominion of any single nation,” US Admiral Harry Harris said at the Stanford Center at Peking University.
“Our military will continue to fly, sail, and operate whenever and wherever international law allows. The South China Sea is not — and will not — be an exception,” he said, according to a transcript.
Photo: AP
Harris is the head of the US Pacific Command and his public declaration in the Chinese capital is a mark of US resolve over the waterway, where Beijing has built up rocks and reefs into artificial islands with facilities for military use.
Last week, the US gave a practical demonstration of its policy, sailing the USS Lassen guided missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) of at least one of the land formations China claims in the disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
Chinese officials rebuked Harris over the action, with People’s Liberation Army Chief of General Staff Fang Fenghui (房峰輝) telling him it had “created a disharmonious atmosphere for our meeting and this is very regretful.”
Washington says it takes no position on sovereignty disputes in the region and the sail-by was intended to protect freedom of navigation under international law.
The USS Lassen’s mission was part of the US’s “routine freedom of navigation operations,” Harris said in his speech, intended to “prevent the decomposition of international laws and norms.”
The “ambiguous maritime claims” represented by China’s “so-called nine-dash line” pose a challenge to navigation, Harris said.
Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the sea.
Harris made some conciliatory remarks, praising US-China ties and pointing out that Chinese and US ships were visiting ports in each other’s countries.
“Some pundits predict a coming clash between our nations. I do not ascribe to this pessimistic view,” he said.
Separately, a US defense official on Monday said that the US Navy plans to conduct patrols within 12 nautical miles of the islands about twice a quarter to remind China and other countries about US rights under international law.
“That’s the right amount to make it regular, but not a constant poke in the eye,” the official said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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