China Claims U.S. Navy Ship Jeopardized Maritime Security Near Contested Sabina Shoal

U.S-China relationship has once again come under strain after a U.S. Navy warship conducted operations near the disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims to be part of its territory, despite claims by neighbouring countries such as the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Beijing does not see Taiwan as a sovereign and independent country but as a part of China, calling its government officials traitors and separatists.

Commenting on the incident, the Chinese military said that the U.S. Navy’s USS Charleston illegally entered the waters near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea without taking prior permission from the Chinese Government.

The U.S. move infringes upon the sovereign rights and interests of China and jeopardises maritime security in the region and hampers the maintenance of peace and stability, the government said in a statement.

It added that the U.S. should immediately stop such activities. Lately, China has also been angered at Washington extending support to the Philippines in military standoffs in the region between Chinese patrol vessels and Manila’s coast guard ships carrying supplies for its troops stationed in strategic islands in the South China Sea.

After USS Charleston’s presence was detected, China immediately sent forces to monitor the ship’s activities.

In response to the Chinese statement, the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet Spokesperson said that the ship conducted route operations in international waters as per international law, for which permission from China was not required.

The spokesperson also said that all countries have the right to freedom of navigation in international waters and the United States would continue to sail, fly, and conduct lawful missions wherever international law allows to support regional peace, stability, and security.

Philippines came forward to support the U.S., with a top official saying that Washington did not do anything wrong or trespass into Chinese waters, adding that no country requires permission for a “lawful ​transit through international waters.”

In September, a Chinese vessel rammed into a Philippine ship near the Sabina Shoal, and Beijing blamed Manila for the incident. Both China and the Philippines have a defense treaty with the U.S., claim sovereignty over the Sabina Shoal and the Spratly Islands.

China has been stepping up naval activities near the island of Taiwan, which Taipei calls a false use of patrols and research activities to pressurise the government and change the status quo in the region. Taiwan has called these Chinese patrols off its coast ‘highly destabilising.’