China 'expels' US Navy warship, claims it 'illegally' entered Chinese waters: Report

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces ‘expelled’ a United States Navy destroyer that it claims trespassed into Chinese waters in the South China Sea on July 12. As per Chinese state media, Global Times report, as Monday marked the anniversary of so-called the South China Sea Arbitration ruling, the US showcased its ‘provocations’ in the name of “freedom of navigation”.

According to Colonel Tian Junli, spokesperson of the Southern Theatre Command whose statement was quoted by the media outlet and released on Monday, USS Benfold ‘illegally’ trespassed into China’s territorial waters of Xisha islands also known as Paracel Islands, without the authorisation of the Chinese government. 

China claims the Xisha Islands and termed the US move as a violation of its own sovereignty and security along with destabilising peace in the South China Sea. The media outlet, which comes under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship People's Daily newspaper, further quoted Tian denouncing the American military’s action as a violation of international law and international relations norms. Tian also warned the United States to “bear consequences” if they fail to immediately stop such kind of provocations.

Even though US Navy has not yet publicly commented after China’s military ‘drove away’ its destroyer, in a written statement earlier US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said that freedom of the seas was an “enduring” interest of all nations. He said, “Nowhere is the rules-based maritime order under greater threat than in the South China Sea...The People’s Republic of China continues to coerce and intimidate Southeast Asian coastal states, threatening freedom of navigation in this critical global throughway.”

China’s disputed claim over South China Sea

The Paracels or Xisha are among hundreds of islands, reefs, and atolls in the enriched South China Sea that are claimed by China overruling international objection to the same. The nations competing for the authority of such several islands include China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. However, China’s authoritarian regime has reportedly claimed historic rights to resources within its so-called nine-dash line or a major chunk of the region. 

China flagged the US move on July 12 and notably, on the same day in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague had ruled that China had no historic title over the South Chian Sea. It further also stated that China had interfered with traditional Philippine fishing rights at Scarborough Shoal and violated the Philippines' sovereign rights by the exploration for oil and gas near Reed Bank. 

IMAGE: AP