Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Outraged China Summons U.S. Ambassador Over US Warship in South China Sea Waters Claimed by China

The Empire is showing its muscle. The USS Lassen sailed within 12-nautical miles of Subi Reef, and China is furious.

From Bloomberg:

China said it will take “all necessary measures” to defend its territory after the U.S. sailed a warship through waters claimed by China in the disputed South China Sea, a move the government in Beijing called a threat to peace and stability in Asia.

“The behavior of the U.S. warship threatened China’s sovereignty and national interest, endangered the safety of the island’s staff and facilities, and harmed the regional peace and stability,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement today. “The Chinese side expressed its strong discontent and firm opposition.”

The comments came hours after the USS Lassen passed within 12-nautical miles of Subi Reef, an island built by China as a platform to assert its claim to almost 80 percent of one of the world’s busiest waterways. By passing so close to the man-made island, the U.S. is showing it doesn’t recognize that the feature qualifies for a 12-nautical mile territorial zone under international law.

The patrol marks the most direct attempt by the U.S. to challenge China’s territorial claims and comes weeks after President Barack Obama told President Xi Jinping at a Washington summit that the U.S. would enforce freedom of navigation and that China should refrain from militarizing the waterway.

In a strongly-worded statement, Lu said the USS Lassen had “illegally” entered Chinese waters and that “relevant Chinese departments monitored, shadowed and warned the U.S. ship.” China has “indisputable” sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and surrounding waters, Lu said.

“What the U.S. is doing now will only damage the stability in the South China Sea, and send the wrong message to neighboring nations such as the Philippines and encourage them to take some risky behavior,” said Xu Liping, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government-linked institute
Looks to me like China has a pretty good reason to be furious. Subi Reef relative to the United States:



-RW

2 comments:

  1. RW, based on your comments above, it appears that you're in favor of imperialism as long as it isn't U.S. imperialism. It is hard for me to believe that that is actually your position.

    While the U.S. has no business policing the entire globe, neither does the Chinese government have any right to claim territory for itself 600 miles from its own shores.

    It may be nice to show a map and say that the U.S. is further from the Spratlys than China. But China is further from these islands than the Philippines. And even the Philippines have no legitimate claim to the islands.

    I don't advocate the U.S. government risking a war with China over the Spratly Islands, but to state that China has reason to be furious is ... infuriating.

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    1. Hawaii is further away from the US than the Spratlys.

      Why in the hell are our leaders trying to provoke all-out war with both China and Russia at the same time? A conspiracy minded individual might muse that it could be cover for serious economic fear.

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