American and Chinese naval vessels clashed near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Wednesday, escalating tensions in the disputed waters, a Navy spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) accused the USS Higgins, a guided missile destroyer, of encroaching on its waters surrounding Scarborough Reef, while the Navy called the claim false and vowed to operate wherever international law allows. The U.S. warships were deployed for a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) following a Monday confrontation between Chinese vessels and the Philippine coast guard in the South China Sea.
“USS Higgins conducted this FONOP in accordance with international law and then continued on to conduct normal operations,” U.S. Seventh Fleet spokesperson Commander Megan Greene told the DCNF. “The operation reflects our commitment to uphold the freedom of navigation and lawful uses of the sea as a principle. The United States is defending its right to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Higgins did here.”
The Chinese military said it tracked and expelled the USS Higgins after it “illegally intruded” into its territorial waters, according to Bloomberg.
“The U.S. military’s actions have seriously infringed upon China’s sovereignty and security and severely undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command said in a statement on Wednesday, according to the outlet.
Two Chinese ships collided with each other in the South China Sea on Monday while trying to drive away a smaller Philippine coast guard vessel. Chinese warships have been operating deeper into the Pacific Ocean, including in mid-July when a PLA ship was spotted sailing near the coast of Hawaii.
Under the bilateral defense guidelines, the U.S. is obligated to defend the Philippines if its forces come under attack, including in the South China Sea.
Both China and the Philippines, as well as other nations such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, have overlapping claims over parts of the South China Sea, where over $3 trillion of maritime commerce passes through annually. China and Taiwan require advanced notification and authorization before military vessels or warships make an innocent passage through their territorial sea, which the U.S. considers a violation of international law.
“The United States upholds freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle. As long as some countries continue to claim and assert limits on rights that exceed their authority under international law, the United States will continue to defend the rights and freedoms of the sea guaranteed to all,” said Greene. “No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms.”
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