US Navy sails South China Sea near China-built islands

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea in a long-anticipated challenge to what the Obama administration considers Beijing's claim of sovereignty in those waters, a U.S. defense official said Monday.

The official said the White House approved the movement by the USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, inside what China claims as a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, a disputed group of hundreds of reefs, islets, atolls and islands in the South China.

The patrol was completed without incident, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Lassen's movements.

A senior defense official told Al Jazeera America, "We are conducting routine operations in the South China Sea in accordance with international law. U.S. forces operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea. We conduct Freedom of Navigation operations on a regular basis around the world, and they are distinct from the question of sovereignty over these islands.”  

The patrols represent the most serious U.S. challenge yet to 12-nautical-mile territorial limits China claims around the islands and are certain to anger Beijing, which said last month it would “never allow any country” to violate its territorial waters and airspace in the Spratlys.

Chinese authorities monitored, followed and warned the U.S. ship as it “illegally” entered waters near disputed islands and reefs on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said.

“China strongly urges the U.S. side to conscientiously handle China's serious representations, immediately correct its mistake and not take any dangerous or provocative acts that threat China's sovereignty and security interests,” the ministry said in a statement on its website. 

The Obama administration has long said it will exercise a right to freedom of navigation in any international waters, including in the South China Sea. The point of sailing a U.S. ship within 12 nautical miles of any of the artificial islands created by China would be to demonstrate the U.S. assertion that they are not sovereign Chinese territory.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday the U.S. would not be required to consult with other nations if it decided to conduct freedom of navigation operations in international waters anywhere on the globe.

“The whole point of freedom of navigation in international waters is that it's international waters. You don't need to consult with anybody. That's the idea,” Kirby said. He referred questions about specific Navy ship movements to the Pentagon.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest referred questions on any specific operations to the Pentagon but said the United States had made clear to China the importance of free flow of commerce in the South China Sea.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, declined to comment.

A U.S. defense official told Reuters that additional patrols would follow in the coming weeks and could also be conducted around features that Vietnam and the Philippines have built up in the Spratlys.

“This is something that will be a regular occurrence, not a one-off event,” said the official. “It's not something that's unique to China.”

China claims most of the South China Sea, which The South covers almost 1.4 million square miles. It contains an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil. About $5.3 trillion worth of trade and more than half the world’s merchant tonnage passes through it and it contains some of the world’s most important fisheries. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims to the waters.

“By using a guided-missile destroyer, rather than smaller vessels … they are sending a strong message,” said Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies.

“They have also said, significantly, that there will be more patrols — so it really now is up to China how it will respond.”

Some experts have said China would likely resist attempts to make such U.S. actions routine. China's navy could for example try to block or attempt to surround U.S. vessels, they said, risking an escalation.

Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, said while there was likely to be a strong vocal reaction from China, its military response could be muted.

The patrol could prompt China to do more to exert its sovereignty in the region through further reclamations and greater militarization, he added.

Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12-nautical mile limits cannot be set around man-made islands built on previously submerged reefs.

Both Subi and Mischief Reefs were submerged at high tide before China began a massive dredging project to turn them into islands in 2014.

Washington worries that China has built up the islands with the aim of extending its military reach in the South China Sea. China says they will have mainly civilian uses as well as undefined defense purposes.

The patrols come just weeks ahead of a series of Asia-Pacific summits President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to attend in the second half of November.

Al Jazeera with wire services