Originally published on 09 October, 2015
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The United States Navy has signalled its intention to sail a surface ship close to Chinese artificial islands in the South China Sea to demonstrate Washington doesn't view the reclaimed land as sovereign territory.
A U.S. official speaking to the Financial Times on the condition of anonymity said the Navy would sail a ship within the 12 nautical mile territorial zone claimed by China in the Spratly archipelago sometime within the next two weeks.
The Navy Times reports that officials said the move could happen "within days," following formal approval from the Obama Administration.
China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its territory, a contested area extending deep into Southeast Asia. Here, China has been busy constructing artificial islands on submerged reefs and wants to enforce territorial no-go zones around this reclaimed land.
Under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, a navy ship can may pass within 12 nautical miles of territory without conducting military operations, this is known as “innocent passage.”
The U.S. Navy plans to conduct such a maneuver near the Spratly Islands — to signal it doesn’t recognise China’s absolute claim on the area.
China’s South China Sea claim is also contested by Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan, countries whose 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zones overlap with China’s Claim. The U.S. says it wants to support free passage per international law.
U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Scott Swift told the New York Times that Washington does not recognize any of China’s territorial claims in the area.
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