The United States sent the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73) on another freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) patrol, this time in international waters off the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea seized by China from South Vietnam in 1974 after a series of sea and land battles.
It was the fourth FONOP challenge the United States has made to what it considers and illegal maritime claims by China in the South China Sea. This FONOP patrol was the first since May.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague last July 12 declared illegal China's claim to own almost the entire South China Sea based on its discredited nine-dash line. It asked China to pay reparations to the Philippines whose sovereignty it violated. China has refused to heed the legally binding decision.
The Pentagon said the Decatur was deployed to challenge China's "excessive maritime claims" at the Paracels and the South China Sea. The destroyer, however, took care to sail in international waters outside the 12-nautical-mile territorial limits of the islands.
It noted the Decatur "conducted this transit in a routine, lawful manner without ship escorts and without incident." One official said the ship sailed near Triton and Woody Islands and was shadowed by three Chinese vessels. There were no hostile encounters with the Chinese.
"This operation demonstrated that coastal states may not unlawfully restrict the navigation rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea that the United States and all states are entitled to exercise under international law," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
In the last three U.S. Navy FONOPs in the South China Sea, U.S. warships cruised within 12 nautical miles of islands claimed by Beijing. The actions drew angry responses from China, which accused the U.S. of stirring up trouble.
The latest FONOP comes just after the Philippines unhinged and pro-communist president Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from the U.S and his realignment with China.
Duterte, who remains accused of masterminding the murders of over 1,400 people in Davao City on Mindanao Island, has also said he wants a commercial and military alliance with Russia.
Philippine political observers have long warned of Duterte's communist leanings. Duterte has also been accused of being a card carrying member of the communist rebel movement fighting to overthrow the Philippine government he now heads.
There is strong speculation Duterte's real agenda is to transform the Philippines into a communist state.
China's Ministry of National Defense called the Decatur's patrol "illegal" and "provocative," saying two Chinese warships warned the Decatur to leave.