US sends Navy ship near island claimed by China in SCS

TIL Desk/World/Washington/The US has sent a navy warship near an artificial island in the disputed South China Sea as part of the first “freedom of navigation” operation under President Donald Trump, in a move likely to provoke Beijing.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey conducted a patrol within 20 kilometres of Mischeef Reef, part of the Spratly Islands over which several countries, including China, have competing claims. The exercise is the first since October.

Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said, “We operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea. We operate in accordance with international law.” The patrols are “not about any one country, or any one body of water,” he told in a statement.

The “freedom of navigation” operation is a signal intended by the US to assert its intention to keep critical sea lanes open. “In conducting the freedom of navigation patrol, President Trump is likely to anger China at a time when the US is seeking increased cooperation with the country to help rein in North Korea,” it said.