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Beijing Calls U.S. Warship’s Route in South China Sea a ‘Provocation’ White House Quiet on South China Sea Patrol That Beijing Calls ‘Provocation’
(about 4 hours later)
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. WASHINGTON — For months, lawmakers and national security hawks have urged President Obama to stand up to China’s land reclamation of disputed islands in the South China Sea. But now that the Obama administration finally has, the White House does not want to talk about it.
“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.” In sending a guided missile destroyer into waters China considers its territory late Monday, the Obama administration sought to exercise what officials called the right to freedom of navigation in international waters.
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. The move was meant to reassure allies in Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines that the United States will stand up to China’s efforts to unilaterally change facts on the ground by building up artificial islands in the Spratly Island chain.
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. But even as it was authorizing the naval patrol, which China promptly called a “deliberate provocation,” the White House tried to play down the incident, anxious to avoid escalating a conflict between the nations, a pair of adversarial Pacific behemoths.
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 White House directed Department of Defense officials not to say anything publicly about the incident. No formal announcements or news releases alerting the media to the passage of the destroyer, the Lassen, were to go out, White House officials ordered. And if asked, officials were instructed not to speak on the record about the specific maneuver, administration officials said.
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. As a result, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter was left flailing during a scheduled appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, just hours after the Lassen left territorial waters near Subi Reef, one of several artificial islands that China has built in the disputed Spratly Islands chain.
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. Senator Dan Sullivan, Republican of Alaska, told Mr. Carter he had initially planned to “express concern” about American “inaction” in combating Beijing in the South China Sea, but changed his mind after hearing that the Navy warship had entered the 12-nautical-mile zone claimed by China.
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. “Is that true? Did we do that?” Mr. Sullivan asked.
The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also dispute China’s claims to the Spratly Islands. Mr. Carter demurred. “We have said and we are acting on the basis of saying that we will fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits ... ”
Mr. Sullivan interrupted him. “Did we send a destroyer yesterday inside the 12-mile zone?”
Again, Mr. Carter sidestepped the question, and the two men went back and forth a few more times. The exchange prompted Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, to express exasperation. “Why would you not confirm or deny that that happened?”
Finally Mr. Carter acknowledged the incident. “I don’t like in general the idea of talking about our military operations,” he said. “But what you read in the newspaper is accurate.”
It was an extraordinary exchange considering the Pentagon had just hours before quietly informed reporters of the naval movement.
“This move seems to have been carefully planned and well executed to mitigate as much risk as possible,” said Derek Chollet, a former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. He said the administration may have just wanted to “let our actions do the talking for us.”
In fact, Mr. Carter was simply following White House orders, administration officials said. “Look, we don’t want to make this a bigger deal than it already is,” a senior administration official said Tuesday, speaking on the grounds of anonymity.
China accused the United States of committing a “deliberate provocation” by sending the destroyer into waters it claims as its own.
“China will firmly react to this deliberate provocation,” Lu Kang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a regularly scheduled news conference on Tuesday.
Chinese authorizes summoned the American ambassador, Max Baucus, to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday evening and told him that the United States should stop “threatening Chinese sovereignty and security interests,” the national broadcaster CCTV said.
The Chinese Defense Ministry said Tuesday night that 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.
Beijing’s response, though heated, essentially repeated language it has used in the past about its sovereignty over the South China Sea.
The Pentagon said that that the Lassen stayed within the 12-mile border of the Spratly Island chain for less than an hour, and that American surveillance equipment recorded images.
The Spratly archipelago is closer to the Philippines than to China. Satellite images show that China has built Subi Reef into an island, using huge dredging equipment, 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 Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all dispute China’s claims to the Spratly Islands.
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.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.
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 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.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.
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 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.
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.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.
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. At the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, Mr. Lu, the spokesman, said that China had sovereignty over the Spratly chain, and hence claimed the 12-nautical-mile zone.
“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.”“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.”
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.”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.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. Helene Cooper reported from Washington, and Jane Perlez from Beijing. Michael Forsythe contributed reporting from Hong Kong, and Yufan Huang contributed research from Beijing.
“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,” Admiral Blair said, “and that China has abandoned any ideas of compromise and negotiated solutions to the disputes.”