The USS Benfold destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, the US Navy said on Monday after China accused the warship of trespassing
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2021) The USS Benfold destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, the US Navy said on Monday after China accused the warship of trespassing.
Earlier on Monday, the Chinese military's Southern Theater Command said that guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold illegally entered the waters of the disputed Xisha islands, also known as the Paracel Islands, in the South China Sea, and was consequently warned off. Beijing protested what it says was a provocation and warned of potential consequences.
"On July 12, USS Benfold (DDG 65) asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law. This freedom of navigation operation ("FONOP") upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging the unlawful restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam and also by challenging China's claim to strait baselines enclosing the Paracel Islands," the US Navy said.
For decades, Beijing has been disputing the status of a number of territories in the South China Sea that it lays claim to, primarily the Paracel and Spratly Island. The Paracels, called the Xisha Islands by Beijing, are part of the dispute, as China, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim sovereignty over them.
