US Destroyer Challenges Beijing’s ‘Excessive Maritime Claims’ in South China Sea – Report
- US Destroyer Carries Out Trump’s 4th “Freedom Of Navigation” Operation In South China Sea
by Tyler Durden, http://www.zerohedge.com/
In a provocation that’s sure to raise eyebrows in Beijing, a US Navy destroyer on Tuesday sailed within 12 miles of Paracel islands in the South China Sea in what appears to be the first US “Freedom of Navigation” operation in two months.
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Reuters reports that the USS Chafee, a guided-missile destroyer, challenged “excessive maritime claims” near the Paracel Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbors. The operation is believed to be the fourth of its kind to take place since Trump took office.
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Unlike a previous mission conducted in August, officials said the destroyer didn’t sail within range of the islands, though it did come close.
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As Reuters points out, the ship didn’t penetrate a 12 nautical mile boundary surrounding the islands that marks the islands’ internationally recognized territorial limits. Sailing within that range is meant to show the US doesn’t recognize territorial claims.
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The operation was carried out even as China and the Trump administration have been working closely together to pass restrictive economic sanctions against North Korea. Recently, China instructed its banks to stop doing business with North Korean clients, and informed North Korean laborers and businesses that they must stop operating in China and return to North Korea.
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