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Beijing Calls U.S. Warship’s Route in South China Sea a ‘Provocation’ Beijing Calls U.S. Warship’s Route in South China Sea a ‘Provocation’
(about 3 hours later)
BEIJING — China on Tuesday accused the United States of committing a “deliberate provocation” by sending a Navy destroyer into waters claimed by Beijing, adding that such actions would force China to speed up its building program in the South China Sea. BEIJING — Tensions over the South China Sea grew on Tuesday after Beijing accused the United States of committing a “deliberate provocation” by sending a Navy destroyer into waters claimed by China.
“China will firmly react to this deliberate provocation,” Lu Kang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a regularly scheduled news conference. He added, “China will not condone any action that undermines China’s security.” “China will firmly react to this deliberate provocation,” Lu Kang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a regularly scheduled news conference. “China will not condone any action that undermines China’s security.”
The American ambassador, Max Baucus, was called to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday evening and told by the deputy foreign minister, Zhang Yesui, that the United States should stop “threatening Chinese sovereignty and security interests,” the national broadcaster CCTV said. The American ambassador, Max Baucus, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday evening and told that the United States should stop “threatening Chinese sovereignty and security interests,” the national broadcaster CCTV said.
Mr. Zhang delivered a “solemn representation and strong protest,” CCTV said. The Defense Ministry said Tuesday night that two Chinese vessels — a missile destroyer, the Lanzhou, and a patrol boat, the Taizhou — had warned the American warship to leave the disputed waters. The Pentagon has said that the destroyer, accompanied by surveillance aircraft, completed its mission without incident.
Separately, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Tuesday night that two navy vessels, a missile destroyer, the Lanzhou, and a patrol boat, the Taizhou, had warned the American ship to get out of the disputed waters. Despite the strong language — and a vow that such actions could force China to speed up its building program in the South China Sea — Beijing’s response repeated standard language about its rights and sovereignty over the South China Sea.
The statements came hours after the Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, one of several artificial islands that China has built in the disputed Spratly Islands chain. The United States had signaled for weeks that it would undertake the mission, which it called an exercise of the right to freedom of navigation in international waters. The Chinese statements came after the Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, sailed late Monday within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, one of several artificial islands that China has built in the disputed Spratly Islands chain. The United States had signaled for weeks that it would undertake the mission, which it called an exercise of the right to freedom of navigation in international waters.
China’s public statements on Tuesday repeated much of the government’s standard language about its rights and sovereignty over the South China Sea. The Spratly archipelago is closer to the Philippines, an American ally, than to China. Satellite images show that China has built Subi Reef into an island, using huge dredging, and that it has started constructing a runway capable of accommodating military aircraft. It has completed another such runway in the Spratlys, on Fiery Cross Reef, and is working on a third.
In an earlier statement on the Foreign Ministry’s website, Mr. Lu called the move an illegal incursion, adding, “The relevant Chinese authorities have monitored, followed the U.S. warship and issued warnings.” The artificial islands built by China, and the broader issue of its claims over islands and small reefs in nearly 90 percent of the strategically important South China Sea, are among the most contentious issues between Washington and Beijing.
Earlier, the Pentagon had said that the Lassen, accompanied by surveillance aircraft, had completed its mission without incident. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also dispute China’s claims to the Spratly Islands.
A Pentagon official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for attribution, said that the plan had been to stay on a defined path, not to loiter and not to be provocative. He said the Lassen, which is part of the Navy’s Seventh Fleet, was headed back to its base at Yokosuka, in Japan. The naval maneuver came a month after China’s president, Xi Jinping, and President Obama met in Washington and failed to reach an agreement on China’s claims.
Pressed on whether China would undertake a military response, Mr. Lu said that reporters should contact “relevant departments,” an apparent reference to the Defense Ministry.
Subi Reef is one of several artificial islands that the Chinese have built in the Spratly archipelago, which is closer to the Philippines, an American ally, than to China. Satellite images show that China has built the reef into an island, using massive dredging, and that it has started constructing a runway capable of accommodating military aircraft. It has completed another such runway in the Spratlys, on Fiery Cross Reef, and is working on a third.
The artificial islands built by China, and the broader issue of its claims over islands and small reefs in nearly 90 percent of the strategically important South China Sea, are among the most contentious issues between Washington and Beijing. The naval maneuver came a month after China’s president, Xi Jinping, and President Obama met in Washington and failed to reach an agreement on China’s claims, many of which are disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam and other governments.
Mr. Xi said at a news conference during his Washington visit that China had no intention of militarizing islands in the South China Sea, but he did not expand on that pledge during his private talks with Mr. Obama, administration officials said. Officials had said before the Lassen’s mission that one purpose of such a patrol would be to test Mr. Xi’s words.Mr. Xi said at a news conference during his Washington visit that China had no intention of militarizing islands in the South China Sea, but he did not expand on that pledge during his private talks with Mr. Obama, administration officials said. Officials had said before the Lassen’s mission that one purpose of such a patrol would be to test Mr. Xi’s words.
The Pentagon apparently chose Subi Reef, which is known as a low-tide elevation, with great care, said Andrew S. Erickson, associate professor at the China Maritime Studies Institute, at the United States Naval War College in Rhode Island. The Lassen operation was intended to show that the United States does not agree that China can prevent American ships from entering a 12-nautical-mile zone that Beijing is claiming around the artificial islands.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a low-tide elevation — meaning it is naturally submerged at high tide — is not entitled to a 12-nautical-mile territorial limit, Mr. Erickson said. Beyond a 500-meter safety zone, foreign ships and aircraft are free to operate at will without consultation or permission, he said. The Pentagon apparently chose Subi Reef, which is known as a low-tide elevation, with great care, said Andrew S. Erickson, associate professor at the China Maritime Studies Institute at the United States Naval War College in Rhode Island.
Asked on Tuesday whether Subi Reef was entitled to a 12-mile territorial limit now that it had been built into an island, Mr. Lu replied, “China has indisputable sovereignty of the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters,” using China’s name for the Spratlys. He said that China was building in the South China Sea for the “public good.” Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a low-tide elevation — one naturally submerged at high tide — is not entitled to a 12-nautical-mile territorial limit, Mr. Erickson said. Beyond a 500-meter safety zone, foreign ships and aircraft are free to operate without consultation or permission, he said.
Referring to the United States, Mr. Lu said: “If the relevant party keeps stirring things up, it will be necessary for China to speed up its construction activities.” At the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, Mr. Lu, the spokesman, said that China had sovereignty over the Spratly chain, and hence claimed a 12-nautical-mile zone around the enlarged islands.
Many Chinese social media users were critical of what they saw as a weak response to the American patrol. “If you can’t even safeguard sovereignty, what else you can do to win the trust of the people?” read one of about 100 comments, most of them critical of China’s response, under an article by Xinhua, the state-run news agency. “China has indisputable sovereignty of the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters,” Mr. Lu said, using China’s name for the Spratlys. He said that China was building in the South China Sea for the “public good.”
The Lassen’s patrol came a week before the head of United States Pacific Command, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., is scheduled to hold talks in Beijing with senior Chinese military officials. Admiral Harris, who has criticized China for moving “walls of sand” to create the artificial islands, has been an outspoken proponent of freedom-of-navigation patrols and has warned that the United States will conduct such forays whenever it sees fit. Referring to the United States, Mr. Lu said, “If the relevant party keeps stirring things up, it will be necessary for China to speed up its construction activities.”
The United States also disagrees with China over the interpretation of what is known as a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone that countries can claim from their coastline. China says that a country must obtain permission before its military ships can pass through such zones. The United States interprets the Convention on the Law of the Sea differently, arguing that no permission is needed.
There are some fears that as China acts on its claims to many islands, reefs and banks in the South China Sea it will build a wide swath of overlapping exclusive economic zones in an attempt to effectively dominate the South China Sea and, in the long run, keep the United States out.
In a defense white paper in May, China said that after decades of emphasizing its land-based military, it was determined to become a maritime power that could operate in the distant seas as well as nearby waters.
That statement was taken as a signal in Washington that China would most likely start trying to enforce its sovereignty over the islands and other land formations within a so-called nine-dash line in the South China Sea. China often claims that the line, encompassing nearly 90 percent of the South China Sea, is based on historical precedent, and at other times says its rights are based on legal claims.
The United States has not ratified the Convention on the Law of the Sea, but abides by its provisions.
The Lassen’s patrol came a week before the head of the United States Pacific Command, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., is scheduled to hold talks in Beijing with senior Chinese military officials. Admiral Harris, who has criticized China for moving “walls of sand” to create the artificial islands, has been an outspoken proponent of freedom-of-navigation patrols and has warned that the United States will conduct such forays whenever it sees fit.
Earlier this month, one of Admiral Harris’s predecessors, Adm. Dennis C. Blair, warned a conference of Chinese analysts that China’s “massive land-building projects” in the South China Sea and its claims of sovereignty were inviting a strong response from the United States Navy.Earlier this month, one of Admiral Harris’s predecessors, Adm. Dennis C. Blair, warned a conference of Chinese analysts that China’s “massive land-building projects” in the South China Sea and its claims of sovereignty were inviting a strong response from the United States Navy.
“This is simply unacceptable to the United States, and the United States will take strong military action, which will tend to move the issues from the civilian law enforcement to the military realm,” he said at a meeting of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, an influential research institute allied with China’s intelligence services.“This is simply unacceptable to the United States, and the United States will take strong military action, which will tend to move the issues from the civilian law enforcement to the military realm,” he said at a meeting of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, an influential research institute allied with China’s intelligence services.
“There is a general feeling outside of China that it has now settled on a sustained policy of aggressive actions to support its claims, especially in the South China Sea, and that China has abandoned any ideas of compromise and negotiated solutions to the disputes,” Admiral Blair said. “There is a general feeling outside of China that it has now settled on a sustained policy of aggressive actions to support its claims, especially in the South China Sea,” Admiral Blair said, “and that China has abandoned any ideas of compromise and negotiated solutions to the disputes.”