China says U.S.

naval destroyer sailing close

to Chinese-built island damages peace and
stability

By Simon Denyer-October 27 at 12:37 PM

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
Beijings 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 Chinas claim to
territorial waters around the man-made islands.
[U.S. warship sails within 12 miles of Chinese-built island]
Experts said it was also aimed at reassuring nervous American allies that Washington
would not allow Beijing to throw its weight around in the region unchallenged. But

there is a risk it could raise military tensions.

Object 1

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer is challenging Beijing's territorial claims in the South

China Sea. China's foreign minister Wang Yi warned the U.S. to "think again and not
to act blindly or make trouble from nothing," but more patrols are planned for the
coming weeks. (Reuters)
China said it viewed the move as an infringement on its sovereignty and claimed it
would damage regional peace and stability.
The foreign ministry warned that Beijing might respond by speeding up its construction
program. More ominously, the Chinese navy said further U.S. missions of this sort
could trigger eventualities without elaborating.
China said it had monitored, followed the USS Lassen as it passed close to the Subi
reef, sending out a missile destroyer and a patrol boat of its own to deliver the
warning.
But a U.S. defense official said the mission had been completed without incident.
The USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, was accompanied by Navy surveillance
planes, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The decision to go ahead followed months of deliberation in Washington, reflecting the
fine balance between standing up to China and potentially provoking a spiral of further
confrontation and regional militarization.
[Navy told China in advance to expect ship]
Last month, Beijing warned it would never allow any country to violate what it
considers to be its territorial waters and airspace around the islands.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the U.S. vessel entered Chinese waters
illegally and without the Chinese governments permission, adding that Chinese
authorities had tracked and warned it as it passed.
The action by the U.S. warship has threatened Chinas sovereignty and security
interests, endangered the safety of personnel and facilities on the islands and
damaged regional peace and stability, he said, urging the United States to correct its
wrongdoing immediately and not take further dangerous and provocative actions.
Referring to the United States, he told a news conference: If certain parties continue
to stir up trouble and create tension, then China may be forced to come to the
conclusion that it is indeed necessary for us to speed up and strengthen relevant
capacity building (on the islands).
Hours later, Chinas vice foreign minister, Zhang Yesui, summoned U.S. Ambassador
Max Baucus to deliver a formal protest. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had urged

the United States not to act blindly or make trouble out of nothing.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territory, including the main
islands and reefs, and has argued that giving up that claim would shame its
ancestors. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have
overlapping claims, and several of them also occupy different islands, reefs and rocks.
A massive Chinese program of land reclamation and construction on several islands
has taken place since 2014, upsetting ties with the United States and several of those
rival claimants.
[As island expands, so do diplomatic complications]
This weeks naval mission is also partly intended to test a pledge made by President
Xi Jinping during his visit to Washington last month that Beijing would not militarize the
islands.
Subi Reef, which lies close to the Philippines, used to be submerged at high tide
before China began a massive dredging project to turn it into an island. It is now big
enough to potentially host an airstrip.
Satellite images also show what looks like a surveillance tower and multiple satellite
antennas on Subi reef, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, part of
the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Under the international law of the sea, turning such features into artificial islands does
not imply any rights to territorial waters around them, something the U.S. mission is
designed to underline although countries can claim a safety zone of just 500
meters around previously submerged reefs.
A Chinese airstrip is already under construction at Fiery Cross reef, and experts say
another could potentially soon be built at Mischief reef. China says the construction
work is primarily designed for civilian use and will not affect freedom of navigation in
the South China Sea. Four other countries already have airstrips in the Spratlys.
[Photos: Chinas rapid island-building strategy continues]
While the exercise would probably not stop China from further construction or
militarization of air strips on the reefs, there were still good reasons to go ahead, said
Bonnie Glaser, an expert on the Chinese military at CSIS.
Some parts of the administration believed this would make things even more difficult,
that China would become even more obstreperous, more difficult to deal with, she
said, and others thought this wasnt something we should do before Xi Jinping came
to Washington.
But in Beijing, retired Rear Admiral Yang Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Strategic
Studies of the Peoples Liberation Army National Defense University said it would
damage U.S-China relations and only encourage China to speed up construction on
the islands, and possibly also their militarization.

The act is reckless, dangerous and irresponsible, he said. It shows the United
States has the mentality of the big brother but the temper of a child. If it becomes a
regular thing, military conflict in the region is inevitable and the US would be the one
who started it.
The Global Times newspaper said Chinese should stay calm and handle the
harassment rationally. It advised the U.S. warship to just go through the motions and
get lost, but said if it stopped to carry out other activities, China should consider
electronic interference, sending military planes to fly over it, or even ships to ram it.
[Chinese activity in South China Sea poses complications for Obama]
At Septembers summit, President Obama told Xi that the United States would
operate, fly or sail anywhere that international law allows.
Additional patrols will follow in coming weeks, and could also be conducted around
features that have been built up by Vietnam and the Philippines in the Spratlys, a U.S.
defense official told the Reuters news agency.
This is something that will be a regular occurrence, not a one-off event, the official
said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Its not something thats unique to
China.
Yanmei Xie, senior China researcher at the International Crisis Group in Beijing said
there was a risk of miscalculation and accidental clashes in such actions, but added
that inaction would also have carried risks.
It is a risky maneuver, but there is no risk-free prescription, she said.
Inaction would amount to acquiescing to the practice of taking unilateral actions to
change the status quo in disregard of the international law of the sea, she added. It
would undermine the credibility of the U.S. as an underwriter of regional security. It
would sow doubt among American allies and friends about the U.S. commitment and
the durability of its presence in the region.
Xu Yangjingjing in Beijing, and Craig Whitlock and Steven Mufson in Washington
contributed to this report.
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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Simon Denyer is The Posts bureau chief in China. He served previously as bureau
chief in India and as a Reuters bureau chief in Washington, India and Pakistan.
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