US sets more patrols in South China Sea disputed waters: Report
The United States has developed a new plan to conduct more regular naval patrols in the South China Sea, despite warnings from Beijing that such patrols would trigger a military conflict in the disputed region.
The US Pacific Command (PACOM) prepared a schedule to conduct naval patrols, at least two or three times over the next few months, in the sea which is mostly claimed by China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Citing several US officials, the Journal said under the new plan, the naval patrols would involve both US warships and military aircraft. They said that more “navigation patrols” using warships likely now will include aircraft overhead.
Officials, however, declined to disclose where and when the patrols would occur, according to the Journal.
There have been three such “multi-domain” naval patrols in the region under the administration of President Donald Trump. The last one conducted in August by destroyer USS John S McCain, which collided with a cargo ship off Singapore days later, killing 10 sailors.
Declining to comment on the new plan, a Pentagon spokesman Rob Manning said that US forces operated throughout the Asia-Pacific region every day, including in the South China Sea.
“All operations are conducted in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows” he added.
Washington routinely sends military aircraft and warships to the disputed East and South China Seas to assert what it says is its right to “freedom of navigation.”
China, which claims “indisputable sovereignty” over all South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters, has repeatedly warned Washington against any military activities in the South China Sea.
The US doesn’t make any claims in the sea, but has long been taking the side of China’s rival claimants in the regional disputes, which involve Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei.
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