Update | US reveals it exercised right to freedom of navigation against China in the South China Sea and other nations around the world
Sino-US ties have been strained after the US Navy has carried out a series of patrols near islands Beijing is developing in disputed areas of the South China Sea
The Foreign Ministry yesterday accused the Washington of exerting “American exceptionalism” after the Pentagon revealed it had conducted “freedom of navigation” operations against 12 foreign nations as well as Taiwan.
“The so-called freedom of navigation is actually the US’ coercive means to push its unilateral claims based on its powerful maritime and air force might,” spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press conference yesterday.
The US introduced the freedom of navigation plan in 1979, before signing the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Hua said was an attempt by the US to safeguard its maritime military interests without signing the treaty. That underscored Washington’s selective use of international conventions and its attitude of exceptionalism, she said.
Hua’s remarks came after the Pentagon issued an annual report earlier this week on the freedom of operation exercises. The countries targeted in the region included the mainland, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia from October 2014 to September last year.
The report said China was challenged over jurisdiction of airspace above its Exclusive Economic Zone and restrictions on foreign aircraft flying through an air defence identification zone set up in the East China Sea in 2013, and requiring foreign military ships to obtain prior permission to enter the zone.
Tensions between China and the US over the dispute have mounted, with each accusing the other of “militarising” the region.