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The USS Dewey warship was carrying out a "manoeuvring drill" when it sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island in the South China Sea to show Beijing it was not entitled to a territorial sea around it, US officials have said.
Key points:
- Officials say the drill showed "that Mischief Reef is not entitled to its own territorial sea"
- The exercise angers Beijing which sends warships to guide the USS Dewey out
- It marks the first South China Sea "freedom-of-navigation" exercise under Mr Trump
The operation on Thursday near Mischief Reef — among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has disputes with its neighbours — was the boldest US challenge yet to Chinese island-building in the strategic waterway.
Analysts say previous US "freedom-of-navigation operations" in the Spratly archipelago involved "innocent passage", in which a warship effectively recognised a territorial sea by crossing it speedily, without stopping.
But on Thursday, the destroyer USS Dewey conducted a "man overboard" exercise, specifically to show that its passage within 12 nautical miles was not innocent passage, US officials said.
"USS Dewey engaged in normal operations by conducting a manoeuvring drill inside 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef," one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The ship's actions demonstrated that Mischief Reef is not entitled to its own territorial sea regardless of whether an artificial island has been built on top of it."
The exercise drew an angry response from China, which President Donald Trump has tried to court in recent weeks to persuade it to take a tougher line on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
Beijing said two Chinese guided-missile warships had warned the US vessel to leave the waters and that it had lodged "stern representations" with the United States.
'This was a statement to the Chinese'
But Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said that freedom of navigation operations are not specific to one country and the Defence Department would release summaries of these operations in an annual report and not sooner.
"We are continuing regular FONOPS, as we have routinely done in the past and will continue to do in the future," Commander Ross said, using an acronym for freedom of navigation operations — the Pentagon has not confirmed the most recent operation.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea and Washington has criticised its construction of islands and build-up of military facilities there, concerned they could be used to restrict free movement and broaden Beijing's strategic reach.
US allies and partners in the region had grown anxious as the Trump administration held off on carrying out South China Sea operations during its first few months in office.
Greg Poling of Washington's Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank said that under international law Mischief Reef was not entitled to a territorial sea as it was underwater at high tide before it was built up by China.
"This was a statement to the Chinese," he said.
"The previous two freedom-of-navigation operations only challenged China's demand for prior notification for innocent passage through the territorial sea; this one asserted that there is no territorial sea at all."
The Trump administration vowed to conduct more robust South China Sea operations after former president Barack Obama was criticised for potentially reinforcing China's claims by sticking to innocent passage.
Even so, this was the first freedom-of-navigation operation since October and since Mr Trump took office in January.
It comes ahead of a visit to Singapore next week by US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis to discuss security with regional counterparts.
China's claims in the South China Sea — through which about $US5 trillion ($6.7 trillion) in ship-borne trade passes each year — are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Vietnam, China, Malaysia have eyes on the prize
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Rich in resources and traversed by a quarter of global shipping, the South China Sea is the stage for several territorial disputes that threaten to escalate tensions in the region.
At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups - the Spratly Islands, off the coast of the Philippines, and the Paracel Islands, off the coasts of Vietnam and China.
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Both chains are essentially uninhabitable, but are claimed by no fewer than seven countries, eager to gain control of the vast oil and gas fields below them, as well as some of the region's best fishing grounds.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have made claims to part of the Spratlys based on the internationally recognised Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 hundred nautical miles from a country's coastline.
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Based on the EEZ, the Philippines has the strongest claim on the Spratlys and their resources, with its EEZ covering much of the area.
However the lure of resources, and prospect of exerting greater control over shipping in the region, means that greater powers are contesting the Philippines' claims.
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China has made extensive sovereignty claims on both the Spratlys and the Paracels to the north, based largely on historic claims outlined in a map from the middle part of the 20th Century known as the 'Nine Dash Map'.
Taiwan also makes claims based on the same map, as it was created by the nationalist Kuomintang government, which fled to Taiwan after the communists seized power in China.
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Vietnam also claims the Spratlys and the Paracels as sovereign territory, extending Vietnam's EEZ across much of the region and bringing it into direct conflict with China.
There have been deadly protests in Vietnam over China's decision to build an oil rig off the Paracels.
One Chinese worker in Vietnam was killed and a dozen injured in riots targeting Chinese and Taiwanese owned factories, prompting 3,000 Chinese nationals to flee the country.
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EEZ can only be imposed based on boundaries of inhabitable land, and this has prompted all the countries making claims on the region to station personnel, and in some cases build military bases out of the water, to bolster their claim.
Building and protecting these structures has resulted in a series of stand-offs between countries in the region, each with the potential to escalate.
China has been leading the charge with these installations, and has deployed vessels to the region to protect their interests.
Chinese coast guard vessels have used a water cannon on Vietnamese vessels, as well as blockading an island where the Philippines has deployed military personnel.
ABC/Wires
Topics: territorial-disputes, unrest-conflict-and-war, donald-trump, china, united-states