The United States announced this Monday that a missile-launching destroyer is sailing through waters near some islands in the South China Sea that Beijing disputes with countries in the area, in full escalation of tensions by high-intensity Chinese military exercises around Taiwan. According to a statement released by the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Milius is sailing “close” to the Spratly Islands, which China disputes with the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei, in a defense exercise. of “freedom of navigation consistent with international law”.

In particular, the text adds that the ship carries out “normal operations” in the twelve nautical miles (the limit established by the UN to designate the sovereignty of a state in maritime territories) of the Mischief reef, in the Spratly, which China has occupied and which is disputed by Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam. “Illegitimate claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to freedom of navigation“Adds the US statement, in a veiled reference to Beijing.

The shipment of the US destroyer occurs amid an escalation of tensions between China and the US, with Beijing ending wide-ranging military exercises around Taiwan in retaliation for the meeting last Wednesday in California (USA) between the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, and the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.

Likewise, Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing has not ruled out invading, and the South China Sea, rich in natural resources and almost entirely claimed by China, have been the target of the US in its recent agreement with the Philippines to expand a Defense agreement that allows its troops to operate from four new military bases in the Asian archipelago. Philippine authorities revealed a week ago the locations of those new bases, including two within 400 kilometers of Taiwan and another facing the disputed South China Sea.

China condemns the action

For its part, the Chinese Army has condemned the passage of the US destroyer. “The USS Milius illegally entered the waters near the Spratly Islands without the approval of the Chinese government“, said the spokesman of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA, Chinese Army), Tian Junli, in a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Defense. According to Tian, ​​the PLA’s Southern Theater of Operations has organized “naval forces and air to track and warn” the US warship.

The spokesman has indicated that China has “indisputable sovereignty” over islands in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters. “The forces of the Southern Theater will always maintain a high state of alert and will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security,” the spokesperson added. In addition, China on Saturday announced the military exercises as “a serious warning” against “provocation by separatist forces” and a “necessary action to protect China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Countries like Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia or Taiwan dispute the sovereignty of the South China Sea with Beijing.