Beijing's response also served as a
reminder that china exerts large
territorial claims across the western
pacific and backs them up with a string
of fortified atolls. Earlier this week a u.s warship asserted
navigational rights and freedoms in the
spratly islands consistent with
international law, Lieutenant Joe Kelly a u.s 7th fleet
spokesman said in a statement.
The montgomery's fonop challenged the
restrictions on the innocent passage in
those waters imposed not only by china
but also by vietnam and taiwan, kelly
said. While taiwan and vietnam have asserted
claims on the reefs and rocks china is
the only one that has seized build up
and fortified the atolls. Kelly said tuesday that china, vietnam
and taiwan request permission or
notification before a foreign military
vessel engages in innocent passage
through territorial seas.
By engaging in the innocent passage
without giving notification or asking
for permission the united states
challenged the unlawful restrictions
imposed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan. Kelly said the united states
demonstrated that innocent passage may
not be subject to such restrictions.
Quoting the spokesperson for the
people's liberation army southern
theater command the chinese communist
party's Global Times newspaper reported
that air and naval forces tracked down
and monitored the vessel's course
verified and identified the vessel and
expelled it. On saturday which was a day set aside to
commemorate the nation's traditional
spring festival.
Calling the FONOP a flagrant attempt at
navigation hegemony the military
spokesman accused the u.s navy of
provocatively and intentionally
disrupting the celebration and pointed
to similar american operations during
the 2019 spring festival in the spratly
islands and near the paracel islands
during china's mid-autumn festival in
september.
Global Times reported that two loaded
fighter bombers of a navy aviation
brigade headed to the target area and
conducted alert patrol missions on
saturday morning in response to
montgomery's FONOP.
The navy has conducted 23 fonops in the
south china sea since 2015, according to Lieutenant J G Rachel mcmah a
spokeswoman for u.s pacific fleet
seven fonops were conducted in 2019 up
from five in 2018 and six in 2017. Three fonops took place in 2016 and two
were conducted in 2015, Mcmah said.
Achinese military outpost fiery cross
features a 10,000 foot runway and
hardened port facilities. beijing has dotted the spratlys with
anti-ship cruise missiles and long-range
surface-to-air missiles in recent years
as well, according to a 2019 pentagon
report. Subi Mischief and fiery cross reefs are
three of the largest chinese outposts in
the spratly islands with each boasting
extensive military infrastructure
including aviation facilities, ports
fixed weapons positions and barracks, according to the pentagon report.
By 2015 china's island reclamation
projects had added more than 3,200 acres
of land to seven sites it occupies in
the spratlys.
