USA destroyer passes Paracel Islands

USA again contradicts China's claim

On 20 January, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Benfold passed the Paracel Islands. With this routine, the Americans are challenging Beijing's far-reaching maritime claims.

China again claimed to have sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. It said it had the right to enclose the waters around four island groups occupied by China with straight baselines, thereby extending the reach of its territorial waters far beyond the 12-mile limit of UNCLOS. The new "Four Sha" claim is a departure from China's previous line of argument. For years, China has relied on a "nine-dash line" map drawn up by the Republic of China in 1947. This historical claim was rejected by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016.

Benfold's passage was also intended to challenge a more commonplace violation. Taiwan, Vietnam and China all claim ownership of the Paracelsus Islands, and all three require advance notice or explicit authorisation before a military vessel undertakes a "harmless passage" through the territorial sea off the islands. The Law of the Sea Convention allows all ships, including warships, to transit peacefully through the territorial waters of other states. This clause is often violated by coastal state regulations, and the US Navy's Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) programme has been cracking down on these violations for decades

After the passage, the PLA Southern Theater Command reported that its forces had "expelled" the USS Benfold from waters belonging to China. In a statement, the spokesman, Colonel Tian July, said that the passage of the Benfold was "ironclad proof that [the US] is seeking to dominate the sea and militarise the South China Sea". The 7th Fleet rejected this claim and stated that the Benfold had left the Paracelsus Islands as planned after its deployment.

The USS Benfold is frequently present in the sea area. In July 2021, she passed through the Taiwan Strait, and in September 2021, she came within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese-occupied Mischief Reef.

Source: The Maritime Executive