CHINA MILITARY UPSET AFTER US SHIP 'ILLEGALLY' ENTERS CHINA SEA
Recently, the Independence-class littoral combat ship, USS Gabrielle Gilfords, was conducting a routine operation in international waters, surveying around the South China Sea. However, this trip caught the eye of the China military, who claimed that the ship illegally entered the waters near the heavily contested atoll, Second Thomas Shoal. The dispute over this land has upset China. Military vessels, such as the USS Gabrielle Gilfords, have caused alarm for China. They see them as a way to undermine regional peace and stability. On the other hand, the U.S. Navy stated that they have operated in the South China Sea for decades, upholding a “free and open Indo-Pacific region.”Suggested read: USS Carney Forced to Defend Against Drones From Houthi Rebels
What Land Is the China Military Fighting Over?
The section of the South China Sea that the U.S. got in trouble for traveling in is a highly contested area. Multiple countries have laid claim to this zone, but the Philippines are the ones who have the closest claim to it. The Whitsun Reef, otherwise known as the Julian Felipe Reef, is only 200 miles west of Palawan Island, which is Philippine land. China and Vietnam have also claimed the Whitsun Reef; however, it is more than 1,000 kilometers away from China's nearest landmass, Hainan Island.Over the last month, the China military has ramped up the number of maritime militia ships that have been operating in the Whitsun Reef. This is alarming the Philippines. Whitsun is within an internationally recognized, exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles under Philippine control. This should, in theory, give them full exclusive access to exploit or conserve resources. However, China has recently been running ships through that reef. Additionally, they have been getting in the way of trade ships. For China, the distance between the reef and Palawan does not matter as much as their treaty. This is why the U.S. stepped in. Related read: The Littoral Combat Ship Naval Program Is a Failure
What Does This Have to Do With the United States?
The United States has claimed that the USS Gabrielle Gilfords was doing, “routine operations consistent with the international law." It is also important to note that the United States has a mutual defense pact with the Philippines, which seems to have upset China. China military news from the U.S. Navy has stayed consistent with the message that it was a “routine freedom-of-navigation operation.”The laws over who can legally travel to the South China Sea have been contested based on different treaties. For China, back in 2016, an arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that the nine-dash line conflicted with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This is a point of contention, as Beijing signed the UN treaty. However, China has refused to accept this ruling.This piece of China-U.S. military news has caused conflict to arise between the two groups. So far, there has been no victor in this dispute. As tensions rise, there is no clear path to coming to a clean agreement with China. Military disputes of all sorts tend to be difficult to determine, but only time will tell how everything unfolds.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
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