The Chinese government slammed United States’ latest freedom of navigation operation. On July 2, US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Stethem (DDG-63) conducted the said operation within the 12-nautical miles waters off Paracel Islands in South China Sea.
“The Chinese side strongly urges the US side to immediately stop such kind of provocative operations that violate China’s sovereignty and threaten China’s security,” China Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Lu Kang said.
He added that China will continue to take all necessary means to defend national sovereignty and security.
He said the US using freedom of navigation “violated the Chinese law and relevant international law.” He added that the US action “disrupted peace, security and order of the relevant waters and put in jeopardy the facilities and personnel on the Chinese islands, and thus constitutes a serious political and military provocation.”
China deployed military vessels and fighter planes in response to warn off the US vessel.
“In accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, the Chinese government promulgated the baseline of the territorial sea off the Xisha Islands in 1996. The relevant Chinese law has explicit provisions on foreign military vessels’ entry into the territorial sea of China,” he explained.
LATEST STORIES
Japan makes inaugural deployment of coastguard vessel to Australia
The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) will for the first time deploy a vessel to Australia, as part of efforts to strengthen counter-piracy measures in Southeast Asia. The vessel, the 3,300-tonne Souya-class … [Read More...]
Navy admiral’s visit reaffirms strong US-PH alliance
MANILA -- The visit of US Chief-of-Navy Operations, Admiral John Richardson, to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City gave both the Philippines and the … [Read More...]
ADAS 2018 OBSERVATIONS AND HIGHLIGHTS
I was able to attend the 2018 Asian Defense and Security (ADAS) at the World Trade Center (WTC) in Manila recently, and every time the event is held (every two years) it always seem to get bigger and … [Read More...]
US reiterates offer to sell F-16 jets to PH: Lorenzana
MANILA -- The US government reiterated its offer to supply the Philippines with the Lockheed Martin F-16. The offer took place during Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin … [Read More...]
Philippine Air Force’s New C-130 SABIR Kit Includes an ELTA Radar
The kit incorporates, among other systems, an electro-optical imager and a variant of ELTA Systems' EL/M-2022 synthetic aperture radar The 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing (AISW) of the … [Read More...]
PHL, China to hold joint military exercises in Zhanjiang
The Philippines will hold joint military exercises with China during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-China military exercise to be held in Zhanjiang, China on October 22 to 29, the … [Read More...]