China: Consequences Over US Warship    03/24 06:11

   China threatened "serious consequences" Friday after the U.S. Navy sailed a 
destroyer around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for the 
second day in a row, in a move Beijing claimed was a violation of its 
sovereignty and security.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- China threatened "serious consequences" Friday after the 
U.S. Navy sailed a destroyer around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South 
China Sea for the second day in a row, in a move Beijing claimed was a 
violation of its sovereignty and security.

   The warning comes amid growing tensions between China and the United States 
in the region, as Washington pushes back at Beijing's growingly assertive 
posture in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway it claims virtually in its 
entirety.

   On Thursday, after the U.S. sailed the USS Milius guided-missile destroyer 
near the Paracel Islands, China said its navy and air force had forced the 
American vessel away, a claim the U.S. military denied.

   The U.S. on Friday sailed the ship again in the vicinity of the islands, 
which are occupied by China but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, as part of 
what it called a "freedom of navigation operation" challenging requirements 
from all three nations requiring either advance notification or permission 
before a military vessel sails by.

   "Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious 
threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and 
overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic 
opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations," said U.S. 7th Fleet 
spokesman Lt. j.g. Luka Bakic in an emailed statement.

   "The United States challenges excessive maritime claims around the world 
regardless of the identity of the claimant," Bakic added.

   China's Ministry of National Defense responded by accusing the U.S. of 
"undermining the peace and stability of the South China Sea" with its actions.

   "The act of the U.S. military seriously violated China's sovereignty and 
security, severely breached international laws, and is more ironclad evidence 
of the U.S. pursuing navigation hegemony and militarizing the South China Sea," 
ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said. "We solemnly request that the US. 
immediately stop such actions of provocation, otherwise it will bear the 
serious consequences of unexpected incidents caused by this."

   He said China would take "all necessary measures" to ensure its security but 
did not elaborate.

   Like its statement on the Thursday incident, China again said it drove the 
American ship away from the islands, which are in the South China Sea a few 
hundred kilometers (miles) off the coast of Vietnam and the Chinese province of 
Hainan.

   Both sides said their actions were justified under international law.

   Bakic told The Associated Press that the ship "was not driven away" and 
"continued on to conduct routine maritime security operations in international 
waters" after concluding its mission near the Paracel Islands.

   "The operation reflects our commitment to uphold freedom of navigation and 
lawful uses of the sea for all nations," he said. "The United States will 
continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as Milius 
did today."

   The U.S. has no South China Sea claims itself, but has deployed Naval and 
Air Force assets for decades to patrol the strategic waterway, through which 
around $5 trillion in global trade transits each year and which holds highly 
valuable fish stocks and undersea mineral resources.

   A United Nations-backed arbitration tribunal ruled in 2016 that the 
historical claim from China on the waters had no legal basis under the 1982 
U.N. Convention on the Law of the Seas, and Washington maintains that freedom 
of navigation and overflight of the waterway are in the American national 
interest.

   U.S. forces currently operate in the South China Sea daily, and have been 
present for more than a century. China regularly responds angrily, accusing the 
U.S. of meddling in Asian affairs and impinging upon its sovereignty.

   China's claims have frequently brought it into conflict with other nations 
in the region as well, and Filipino diplomats were expected to unleash a slew 
of protests on Friday over China's recent targeting of a Philippine coast guard 
ship with a powerful military laser and other aggressive behavior.