US warship sails close to China-held island
MANILA, PHILIPPINES » A U. S. warship sailed close to a Chinese man-made island in the disputed South China Sea in an operation that challenged China’s vast territorial claims in busy international waters, a U. S. Navy official said Thursday.
The official said that Chinese vessels were in the vicinity Thursday when the USS John S. McCain sailed in a “routine” freedom of navigation operation near Mischief Reef. It was not immediately clear if the Chinese demanded the U.S. destroyer leave as they have done in the past.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak.
China, which claims the South China Sea virtually in entirety, has protested such repeated U. S. military operations, which President Donald Trump’s administration has continued partly to reassure allies locked in territorial rifts with Beijing.
Tensions escalated a few years ago when China began to build seven reefs, including Mischief, into islands, including three with runways, which the U. S. and China’s neighbors fear could be used to project Beijing’s military might and potentially obstruct freedom of navigation. China has reportedly installed a missile defense system on the new islands.
The U.S. is not involved in the long- seething disputes in the busy and potentially oil- and gas-rich waters involving China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. But Washington has declared it in its interest to ensure that the conflicts are resolved peacefully and that freedom of navigation and overflight remain unhampered.