THE WASHINGTON POST CARRIES STORY OF THE U.S. LATEST SOUTH CHINA SEA SOVEREIGNTY PATROL
Đá Tây LightSouthern Vietnam Maritime Safety Agency
"BEIJING — China denounced what it called a “dangerous and provocative” act Tuesday after an American warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese-built artificial island at a center of regional dispute over maritime territory and sea routes.
"BEIJING — China denounced what it called a “dangerous and provocative” act Tuesday after an American warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese-built artificial island at a center of regional dispute over maritime territory and sea routes.
The incident reflects rising tensions between the United States and China over Beijing’s aggressive program of land reclamation and construction on rocks and reefs in the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea, whose shores include Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.
The U.S. naval action — which followed months of debate in Washington — was intended to uphold the principle of freedom of navigation in international waters, U.S. officials said, and underscores that Washington does not accept China’s claim to territorial waters around the man-made islands." Read the Full Story @ Washington Post's Sovereignty Patrol Report
All the regional nations concerned with the Chinese actions should send a ship to parade around the island.
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't agree more. The problem is faith in American resolve. No one regional nation can stand against China alone. Without the commitment of the U.S no regional alliance will hold. .Some of the regional powers also have territorial disputes among themselves . Internationally no one trusts U.S. public pronouncements since about the second year of Obama's first term. Continuation and increase in frequency in soverignity patrols may eventually encourage regional participation in such patrols. But the fact that the Pacific fleet commander felt compelled to defer to the politicians before committing to this recent soverignity patrol didn't help. What is needed is a bipartisan congressional resolution and White House declaration on a policy concerning international and regional multilateral administration of the South China in accordance with the present day International convention on the Law of the Sea. China is operating in clear violation of this codified and agreed to international legal regime. But with the U.S. government viewed internationally as incompetent and snarled in grid lock, no regional powers are going to join us even though it is to their benefit until they are sure we won't cut and run.-Johnas Presbyter, editor
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