The US military will continue to operate “wherever” international law allows in the South China Sea, a US admiral has said.

“International seas and airspace belong to everyone and are not the dominion of any single nation,” US Admiral Harry Harris said, according to prepared remarks for a speech at the Stanford Center at Peking University.

“Our military will continue to fly, sail, and operate whenever and wherever international law allows. The South China Sea is not and will not be an exception,” he added.

Harris is the commander of the US Pacific Command and his public declaration in the Chinese capital is a mark of US resolve over the strategically vital waterway, where Beijing has built up rocks and reefs into artificial islands with facilities for military use.

This comes after a US Navy destroyer sailed close to artificial islands built by China in the disputed waters of the South China Sea in defiance of China. Destroyer USS Lassen breached the 12-nautical mile zone China claims around its artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago.

USS Lassen is an Arleigh Burke class destroyer. The Arleigh Burke class are built around the Aegis Combat System.

The freedom of navigation operation represents a serious challenge to China’s territorial claims. Freedom of navigation is a principle of international law that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states. This right is also codified in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, not all UN member states have ratified the convention; notably, the United States has signed, but not ratified the convention.

China had responded to the US for ignoring repeated warnings and allowing one of its destroyers to sail close to the artificial islands.

A statement posted on China’s Foreign Ministry website says:

“These actions of the US warship are a threat to the sovereignty and security of China, and safety of people living on the islands; they damage peace and stability in the region. In this regard, the Chinese side expresses extreme dissatisfaction and strongly protests.”

Under international law, a state’s territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from its shore. However, the US and others argue that this rule cannot apply to artificial islands.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also claim parts of the sea. Taiwan is a sixth claimant.

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George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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John Francis
8 years ago

whose sea is it anyway

Andy Christie
8 years ago
Reply to  John Francis

That’s the point. It’s international waters. Have you been fallowing international issues or are you just throwing you two pence in just to get your left wing views across.

David L Thomas
8 years ago

May find that China could call in the debt’s that US owes them at anytime.

Jason Owens
8 years ago
Reply to  David L Thomas

Why would the Chinese risk losing such a massive market for its goods? Especially when their economy is slowing down at an alarming rate. And would the massive instability such an actions would cause on the international markets prove to the detriment of China in the long term?

David L Thomas
8 years ago
Reply to  David L Thomas

Good point but strange things can happen in conflicts.

david
david
8 years ago
Reply to  David L Thomas

If my bank tells me its forcing me to pay back my mortgage tomorrow then they’ll get nothing as I haven’t got the money to pay! Is China that stupid? I don’t think so; I see them as quite clever people.

jon livesey
jon livesey
8 years ago
Reply to  David L Thomas

There is no such thing as China calling in US debt. All they can do is sell it, either to the US, in which case it gets cancelled and swapped for cash, or to some third party, in which case the US doesn’t care at all.

Chris Harding
8 years ago

so they should. artificial islands do not count as coast line territory… especially out in international waters. the ‘oldest civilization’s’ bullying should be rebuked at every turn.

Michael Karl Dawes
8 years ago

Use it or lose it

Howie Elliott
8 years ago

good…time to put China in its place….

Lee Hill
8 years ago

Behind them at every step

david
david
8 years ago

Its a good time for the USA to build an artificial island in the Black sea and maybe one in the East China sea! The possibilities are endless.

Brian Emch
8 years ago

yep. The hell w China. They should consider it partial payback for all the hacking

John Mepham
8 years ago

Without the US military the Far East , where there are more border disputes than anywhere else in the world, would descend into warfare.