US warships near South China Sea islands claimed by Beijing

TWO US navy warships sailed near islands claimed by China yesterday to challenge Chinese efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the area, US officials said.

In a move likely to anger Beijing, the Higgins, a guided-missile destroyer, and the Antietam, a guided-missile cruiser, came within 12 nautical miles of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The archipelago is among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbours, and the operation was the latest attempt to counter what Wash- ington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the waters around them.

While the operation had been planned months in advance and similar operations have become routine, it comes at a particularly sensitive time, just days after the Pentagon uninvited China from a major Us-hosted naval drill. Donald Trump’s cancellation of a summit with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has put further strain on Us-china ties amid a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. The Pentagon did not directly comment on yesterday’s operation, but the US Pacific Fleet said in a statement: “We conduct routine and regular Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS), as we have done in the past and will continue to do in the future.”

China’s foreign and defence ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pentagon officials have long complained that China has not been candid about its rapid military build-up in the region, and claim it is using the South China Sea islands to gather intelligence. Satellite photographs taken on May 12 showed China appeared to have deployed lorry-mounted surface-to-air missiles or anti-ship cruise missiles at Woody Island.

Earlier this month, China’s air force landed bombers on disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of a training exercise in the region, triggering concern from Vietnam and the Philippines.

Chinese officials have accused Washington of viewing their country in suspicious, “Cold War” terms.

China’s claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The US has said it would like to see more international participation in freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea.