The Chinese army said on Thursday March 23 that it chased away an American warship that had “illegally entered” in an archipelago it controls in the South China Sea. This account of the facts is judged “lying” by the United States. The destroyer USS Milius would have penetrated the area “without the approval of the Chinese authorities” in the waters of the Paracels, according to a statement from Tian Junli, spokesperson for the Chinese army’s southern theater of operations. “Naval and air forces have been mobilized to track and monitor this vessel, as well as issue a warning and remove it from the area”he pointed out.
The spokesman denounced an American maneuver which according to him “undermines peace and stability in the South China Sea”, and assured that the army “remains on its guard and will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty”.
This incident occurs in a context of a struggle for influence between Beijing and Washington in this maritime area and strong rivalry on several other issues: Taiwan, TikTok, treatment of the Uyghur minority. The Paracels, an archipelago located equidistant from the Chinese and Vietnamese coasts, are disputed between Beijing and Hanoi. The Chinese navy regained control of all of the islands in 1974 following a naval conflict.
“The United States will continue to fly, navigate and operate where international law permits”
“The PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) statement is misleading”said a spokesman for the Indo-Pacific command of the American army. “The USS Milius […] conducts routine operations in the South China Sea and has not been turned away. The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate where international law allows.”he pointed out.
China claims to have been the first nation to discover and name the islands of the South China Sea, through which a large part of the trade between Asia and the rest of the world passes today. It thus claims a large part of the islands of this maritime zone. But other riparian nations (Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei) have competing sovereignty claims.
Each country controls several islands and atolls, notably in the Spratly archipelago, further south, where incidents are much more frequent than in the Paracels. The United States regularly conducts operations in the South China Sea called “freedom of navigation”sending warships to challenge Chinese claims.
Beijing has cemented its control over certain islets and atolls in this maritime region over the past decade, carrying out expansion works and setting up military installations there.