US Navy & PLAN - South China Sea Situation News (Closed)

WASHINGTON — When the US destroyer Lassen

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on Subi Reef in the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands Oct. 27, it was already being escorted by several Chinese Navy warships. The US ship represented a challenge to China’s attempt to create land and declare it and the surrounding areas sovereign territory.

The Chinese naval ships, reported a US Navy source, behaved professionally during the Lassen’s transit. “They shadowed the Lassen but stayed at a safe distance.”

But several smaller vessels, described by the source as merchant ships or fishing vessels, were more provocative, crossing the Lassen’s bow and maneuvering around the destroyer even as they kept their distance.

“There were Chinese merchant vessels present that were not as demure as the Chinese Navy,” the US Navy source said Oct. 30. “One came out of its anchorage in the island and crossed the destroyer’s bow but at a safe distance, and the Lassen did not alter course as the merchant ship circled around.”

Fishing vessels in the area added to shipping traffic in the immediate area, the source said. But the extra craft seem to have been present, the source noted, “because they anticipated the Lassen’s transit.”

China has been known to use civilian ships as government proxies, often to harass foreign vessels, and several analysts have been scrutinizing current and recent incidents to determine who’s on board those mysterious vessels.

Andrew Erickson, an associate professor at the US Naval War College and well-known authority on Chinese naval and maritime affairs, is pretty sure he knows. He suspects the Chinese naval militia, forces he’s dubbed “little blue men” — a reference to the “little green men” employed by Russia in Crimea and the Ukraine to insinuate military forces into a region without clear identification.

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Jeff Head said:

It is clear that people in this administration do not know the differences, or the implications, in the use of the two terms:

- Innocent Passage, and,
- Freedom of Navigation

Sad...but true.

Nonetheless, I believe that the US Navy professionals who conducted the mission do, and conducted themselves accordingly.

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World | Mon Nov 2, 2015 11:05pm EST Related: WORLD, CHINA, SOUTH CHINA SEA
U.S. Navy plans two or more patrols in South China Sea per quarter
WASHINGTON | BY ANDREA SHALAL AND IDREES ALI

The U.S. Navy plans to conduct patrols within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands in the South China Sea about twice a quarter to remind China and other countries about U.S. rights under international law, a U.S. defense official said on Monday.

"We're going to come down to about twice a quarter or a little more than that," said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about Navy operational plans.

"That's the right amount to make it regular but not a constant poke in the eye. It meets the intent to regularly exercise our rights under international law and remind the Chinese and others about our view," the official said.

U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes on Monday said there would be more demonstrations of the U.S. military's commitment to the right to freely navigate in the region.

"That's our interest there ... It's to demonstrate that we will uphold the principle of freedom of navigation," Rhodes told an event hosted by the Defense One media outlet.

Rhodes' comments came a week after a U.S. guided-missile destroyer sailed close to one of Beijing's man-made islands in the South China Sea last week.

China's naval commander last week told his U.S. counterpart that a minor incident could spark war in the South China Sea if the United States did not stop its "provocative acts" in the disputed waterway.

The USS Lassen's patrol was the most significant U.S. challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit China claims around artificial islands it has built in the Spratly Islands archipelago.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of world trade transits every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan all have rival claims.

Rhodes said the goal in the dispute was to come to a diplomatic framework to resolve these issues.

U.S. Vice Admiral John Aquilino, deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans and strategies, declined to comment about when the next patrols would take place.

"We do operations like that all the time around the world. That will continue for us," he told Reuters after his remarks at the same conference. "We'll just keep going."

Defense Secretary Ash Carter may visit a U.S. Navy ship during his upcoming visit to Asia, but is not expected to be on board during any Navy freedom of navigation operations, the U.S. defense official said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Idrees Ali; editing by Mohammad Zargham and G Crosse)

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the Lassen had to have behaved within those 12 NM in the same manner allowed on high seas. Under UNCLOS, a warship on the high seas may carry out its whole array of activities including launching helicopters, turning on fire-control radars, and carrying out arms exercises. However, these and other activities (including fishing and research) are all prohibited when sailing in another country’s 12 NM territorial waters – a condition known as “innocent passage”, detailed under UNCLOS Part II, Article 19.

Thus, in order for the USN to send the unequivocal message that it saw the 12 NM around Subi Reef as high seas, it had to have carried out at least one of those activities. Else, its transit would have been identical in form to that of an innocent passage, which is only required for territorial waters. Carrying out such a transit would therefore legitimize, or at least be viewed as legitimizing, the Chinese claim that Subi Reef has a 12 NM territorial sea. In so doing, Lassen’s voyage, far from contesting the Chinese position, would actually reinforce it by behaving in the same way it would have to in an actual territorial sea.

If the United States wants to demonstrate its resolve on the issue, its FONOPs need to not only sail within 12 NM of a Chinese feature, but also involve activities prohibited under “innocent passage” conditions while in the area. Such activities can be as mundane as lowering a fishing lure over the side, or as visually impressive as launching a Seahawk or UAV.

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SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China has always insisted the dispute in the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully through talks, but the government has a responsibility to protect the country's sovereignty and maritime rights, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday.

China has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

Its land reclamation work in the sea has raised concern in the region about its intentions, and last week, a U.S. warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of one of Beijing's man-made islands in the contested Spratly archipelago.

Speaking at the National University of Singapore, Xi said freedom of passage in the South China Sea has never been a problem and will never be a problem, but the islands there have always been Chinese.

"To maintain the sovereignty and proper, reasonable maritime rights is a responsibility the Chinese government must take on," Xi said.

"Right of passage or flight has never been a problem and will never be a problem, because China needs the freedom of passage in the South China Sea the most," he added.

"Though some islets over which China has sovereignty have been occupied by others, China has always committed to solve the problem by peaceful negotiations," Xi said.

"China is committed to working with countries with a direct stake in the issue to solve the dispute on the basis of respect of historical facts, according to international laws and through discussions and negotiations."

China has the confidence and ability to maintain the peace and stability of the South China Sea area, Xi said.

In what appeared to be a comment directed at the United States, he added that China welcomed "countries from outside the region" to have a "positive influence" on peace and development in Asia.

Xi, on the second leg of a Southeast Asian trip that has also taken in Vietnam, has sought to strike a more conciliatory tone on the South China sea while in the region.

On Friday, China and Vietnam agreed to maintain peace at sea as Xi lauded relations with its much smaller but also communist-led neighbor.

Vietnam and China's competing territorial claims mushroomed into a major dispute last year after China parked an oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea, leading to anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam.

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Brumby said:

The article also mentioned the following :


If the plan was to conduct FON, then innocent passage should not be in the menu selection. In particular, Subi was selected because there is no controversy around it as it is an artificial island by all meaning of that word. Innocent passage is oxymoron when placed against Subi unless the USN has now created a new definition of territory seas not covered by UNCLOS. This is an example of how an amateur can complicate even simple stuff.

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Vessels from both the U.S. Navy and the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy conduced a joint exercise off the coast of Florida.

The training event was a group sail and passing exercise, and marked the first visit to Florida by the People's Liberation Army Navy [PLA(N)]. For the exercise, PLA(N) committed three ships, including Jiangkai II-class frigate Yiyang, Luyang II-class destroyer Jinan, and Fuchi-class oiler Qindaohu. The U.S. Navy committed ships assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 26, which includes

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-class guided missile destroyers USS Stout and USS Mason, and Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Monterery.

"The purpose of this exercise was to foster international maritime cooperation between our Navies," Lt. j.g. Lisa Lacross said

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on the exercise. "The PASSEX was executed well by all parties involved and allowed us to demonstrate a variety of seamanship skills."

The exercise allowed both naval forces to work on navigation and maneuvering in formation, while also building a working relationship between Chinese and U.S. naval personnel. The group sailing event came as ships assigned to DESRON 26 prepare for deployment in 2016.

"What a unique opportunity to conduct a PASSEX with the Chinese Navy as part of our own routine training off the coast of Florida, " DESRON 26 Commodore Capt. Brian Fort said. "The Sailors aboard Mason, Monterey and Stout will be able to tell their family and friends that they did something that was a first.

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Blackstone said:

The White House calling it innocent passage and the Pentagon calling it FON matters to US allies and regional countries, because China's current target is US security credibility in Asia.

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