New sparks are flying South China Sea. There China he pointed his finger at her United Stateswho accuses Washington of violating its own rights territorial sovereignty. Beijing specifically condemned the passage of the US combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords in the waters near Second Thomas Reef, part of Spratly Atoll, an area disputed between China and the Philippines. The US ship’s passage “undermines peace and stability in the region,” the Chinese military accused in a statement, and shows that “the United States poses the greatest threat” to the region’s stability.
China’s accusation
“The United States has deliberately destroyed the South China Sea, seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, seriously undermined regional peace and stability, and violated international law and basic norms of international relations,” the statement said Southern Theater Command Chinese. “On December 4, the littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords illegally entered waters near Ren’ai Reef in China’s Nansha region without authorization from the Chinese government,” it said Tian Junli.
As a reminder, the waters where the US ship sailed have been the scene of several disasters in recent months Accidents between Philippine boats and Chinese coast guard ships that have repeatedly tried to block the shipment of aid to a military outpost in Manila on the islands. The Second Thomas Reef, called Ren’ai Reef in Chinese, is a coral reef located about 200 kilometers from the island of Palawan, west of the Philippines, and more than 1,000 kilometers from the nearest Chinese country, Hainan Island. The Chinese military “monitored the entire operation on Monday,” Tian Junli said. “The United States’ deliberate aggravation of the situation in the South China Sea constitutes a serious attack on China’s sovereignty and security,” he warned.
Megan GreeneA public affairs official with the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, told the South China Morning Post that the U.S. ship’s relocation into the eye of the storm was part of “Routine operations in accordance with international law”. Let us recall that Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, an important transit point for trade routes, as well as an area rich in natural resources. Compared to the positions of the Asian giant, we find a variety of Countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
High tensions between Beijing and Manila
Relations between Beijing and Manila have deteriorated in recent months following several controversial maritime incidents. To name just the most recent: On November 26th, two Chinese fighter jets circled around one Philippine airplane which took part in joint exercises with Australia in the usual South China Sea. However, just recently, the Philippines reported the “alarming” presence of a “swarm” of up to 135 Chinese boats, the number of which would grow at the same time Pentecost Reef (Julian Felipe in Filipino), the name of the large L-shaped coral reef located 320 kilometers west of the island of Palawan, halfway between Vietnam and the Philippines.
Last month, Beijing and Washington also exchanged accusations after the Chinese military said it had repelled an American warship in the usually disputed South China Sea. The US Navy had already spoken of a “routine freedom of navigation operation” back then. And so, in addition to the Taiwan issue, a new front is emerging in the very delicate situation in the Indo-Pacific. A front that must be monitored extremely carefully.