China accused US navy of ‘serious provocation’ after USS Lassen sailed close to Chinese artificial island, but US contends they have freedom of navigation

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The US has threatened further naval incursions into waters claimed by China after naval manoeuvres near two artificial islands in the South China Sea prompted an angry rebuke from Beijing.

China summoned the US ambassador to Beijing in protest and accused the US of a “serious provocation” following US naval manoeuvres during which the guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed close to a Chinese artificial island.

But US defense secretary Ash Carter warned on Tuesday that naval operations in the area would continue. “We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits,” said Carter, during a congressional hearing in which lawmakers claimed the US risked losing credibility with its allies in the region if it did not act.

“There have been naval operations in that region in recent days and there will be more in the weeks and months to come,” he said.

The US navy began its mission through waters near the island at about 6.40am local time on Tuesday.



Carter confirmed that the USS Lassen traveled within 12 nautical miles (22.2km, or 13.8 miles) of the disputed Spratly archipelago, which is at the heart of a controversial Chinese island building campaign that has soured ties between Washington and Beijing. Chinese officials were not informed of Tuesday’s mission, US officials said.

The direct military challenge to Beijing’s territorial claims prompted a furious reaction in Beijing.

State television reported that the Chinese vice-foreign minister, Zhang Yesui, had branded the move “extremely irresponsible” when meeting with the US ambassador to China, Max Baucus.

Addressing journalists in Beijing, Lu Kang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said China was strongly dissatisfied with America’s actions, which he described as a threat to China’s sovereignty.

But he refused to be drawn on whether China would consider a military response. “I will not answer hypothetical questions,” Lu said. “We hope that the US side will not take actions that will backfire.”

Lu warned that further “provocative actions” might lead to accelerated Chinese construction in the South China Sea: “It would be a pity for us to realise that we have to strengthen and speed up relevant construction activities.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington said the concept of “freedom of navigation” should not be used as an excuse for muscle-flexing and the US should “refrain from saying or doing anything provocative and act responsibly in maintaining regional peace and stability”.

How China's artificial islands led to tension in the South China Sea Read more

China’s military buildup in the South China Sea – including the construction of a 3km runway capable of supporting fighter jets and transport planes – has become a major source of tension between Beijing and Washington.



China claims most of the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, although Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims. Beijing says the islands will have mainly civilian uses as well as undefined defence purposes.



But satellite photographs have shown the construction of three military-length airstrips by China in the Spratlys, including one each on Mischief and Subi reefs.

Both reefs were submerged at high tide before China began a massive dredging project in 2014. It now claims a 12 nautical mile territorial limit around the artificial islands, although the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea says such limits cannot be set around man-made islands built on previously submerged reefs.

Barack Obama said he held “candid discussions” with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, over the issue during Xi’s recent state visit to the US.

Speaking earlier this month, officials in Beijing cautioned the US against “provocative” actions in the South China Sea. “China will never allow any country to violate China’s territorial waters and airspace in the South China Sea,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

Claims in the South China Sea Claims in the South China Sea.

Security experts in Washington described Tuesday’s intervention as a victory for hawks within the administration who had been pushing hard for a symbolic gesture against Chinese territorial claims.

Michael Green, a former senior director for Asia at the White House National Security Council, said this was despite a fear among those close to Obama of upsetting the Chinese over other issues.

“There was a very, very strong consensus building within the Pacific Command and among East Asia experts in the Pentagon, State Department and the White House that they had do this,” he told the Guardian.

“The resistance appears to have been from the White House at higher levels because they did not want to upset president Xi’s visit and there was concern it might affect US-China cooperation at the Paris climate change meeting,” added Green, who now works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.

“The timing was about finding a window after the Xi visit, but far enough ahead of the Paris meeting that they could recover from the Chinese reaction. That was the major calculation.”

The Pentagon insisted it was within its rights under maritime law to enter such waters, in a statement that coincided with a visit to Washington by Indonesian president Joko Widodo.



“The United States is conducting routine operations in the South China Sea in accordance with international law,” Bill Urban, a US Defense Department spokesman told the Guardian. “US forces operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea. All operations are conducted in accordance with international law.”

“It’s one of the reasons you have a navy, to be able to exert influence and to defend freedom of navigation on – in international waters,” added State Department spokesman John Kirby on Monday.

“You don’t need to consult with any nation when you are exercising the right of freedom of navigation in international waters. The whole point of freedom of navigation in international waters is that it’s international waters.”

White House officials said Widodo and Obama had also discussed the issue during their meeting in Washington on Monday and claimed Chinese aggression “increased tensions, eroded trust, and threatened to undermine peace, security, and the economic well-being of the region”.

Obama is said to have been under particular pressure to tackle the issue ahead of an upcoming meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).



US manoeuvre in South China Sea leaves little wiggle room with China Read more

But pressure was also mounting at home. Arkansas Republican Dan Sullivan said many members of the Senate armed services committee had been concerned that US “inaction” in the South China Sea was “undermining US credibility”.

But US security experts criticised the administration for appearing to time its intervention to suit conflicting agendas of the Asean and Paris summits rather than more boldly assert the principle of freedom of navigation.

“I think that’s the wrong way to do these things,” said Green at CSIS, “They need to appear routine and not halting and tentative,”

“This was necessary because the lack of response was causing deep concern among allies and this will go someway to reassuring them,” he added. “It does not have to happen on a regular basis, but it will have to happen again at some point.”