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US warship transits South China Sea to challenge ‘unlawful maritime claims’
- USS Curtis Wilbur conducts freedom of navigation operations near the contested Paracel Islands
- US Navy says the operation ‘demonstrated that these waters are beyond what China can lawfully claim as its territorial sea’
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A United States warship sailed through the Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea on Thursday after passing through the Taiwan Strait, in defiance of a protest from Beijing.
The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur had conducted freedom of navigation operations in the vicinity of the Paracels, which are claimed by Beijing, Taiwan and Vietnam.
“Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations,” it said in a statement.
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It said Beijing, Taiwan and Vietnam had imposed unlawful restrictions on innocent passage over the disputed waters, and the operation was also aimed at challenging China’s territorial claims.
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“By conducting this operation, the United States demonstrated that these waters are beyond what China can lawfully claim as its territorial sea, and that China’s claimed straight baselines around the Paracel Islands are inconsistent with international law,” it said.
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