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WOLRD NEWSWednesday 28 October

China warns US Navy after ship sails by Chinese-built island

C. BODEEN and warned the USS Lassen and stability,” the ministry new outposts by piling sand State Department spokes-
R. BURNS as it entered what Chinac- said on its website. atop reefs and atolls then man John Kirby said Tues-
Associated Press laims as a 12-mile (21-ki- “The Chinese side express- adding buildings, ports and day the U.S. has a right to
BEIJING (AP) — A U.S. Navy lometer) territorial limit es its strong dissatisfaction airstrips big enough to han- freedom of navigation in
warship sailed past one around Subi Reef in the and resolute opposition,” dle bombers and fighter international waters, and
of China’s artificial islands Spratly Islands archipelago, the statement said. jets — activities seen as an such maneuvers “should
in the South China Sea on a group of reefs, islets, and The sail-past fits a U.S. attempt to change the ter- not be construed as a
ritorial status quo by chang- threat by anybody.” He
In this 2008 photo, Chinese navy personnel get ready for U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS ing the geography. said the U.S. wants relations
Lassen to dock at the Shanghai International Passenger Quay in Shanghai, China, for a scheduled Navy officials had said the with China to continue to
port visit. The USS Lassen sailed past one of China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea on Tues- sail-past was necessary deepen.
day, Oct. 27, 2015, in a challenge to Chinese sovereignty claims that drew an angry protest from to assert the U.S. position “The U.S.-China relationship
Beijing, which said the move damaged US-China relations and regional peace. that China’s manmade is vitally important and one
islands cannot be consid- that we want to see contin-
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) ered sovereign territory ue to improve and to grow
with the right to surround- for the benefit of both our
Tuesday, in a challenge to atolls where the Philippines policy of pushing back ing territorial waters. countries, not to mention
Chinese sovereignty claims has competing claims. against China’s growing as- International law permits the region,” Kirby told re-
that drew an angry protest “The actions of the U.S. war- sertiveness in the South Chi- military vessels the right porters in Washington.
from Beijing, which said the ship have threatened Chi- na Sea. U.S. ally the Philip- of “innocent passage” Beijing’s response closely
move damaged U.S.-Chi- na’s sovereignty and secu- pines welcomed the move in transiting other coun- mirrored its actions in May
na relations and regional rity interests, jeopardized as a way of helping main- try’s seas without notifica- when a navy dispatcher
peace. the safety of personnel and tain “a balance of power.” tion. China’s Foreign Min- warned off a U.S. Navy
China’s Foreign Ministry facilities on the reefs, and Since 2013, China has ac- istry, though, labeled the P8-A Poseidon surveillance
said authorities monitored damaged regional peace celerated the creation of ship’s actions as illegal. aircraft as it flew over Fi-
The U.S. says it doesn’t take ery Cross Reef, where Chi-
a position on sovereignty na has conducted exten-
over the South China Sea sive reclamation work.
but insists on freedom of A Defense Department of-
navigation and overflight. ficial, who spoke on condi-
About 30 percent of global tion of anonymity to discuss
trade passes through the the Lassen’s movements,
South China Sea, which said the patrol was com-
also has rich fishing grounds pleted without incident.
and a potential wealth of A Pentagon spokesman,
undersea mineral deposits. Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, de-
China says it respects the clined to comment.
right of navigation but has Speaking to foreign corre-
never specified the exact spondents in Manila, Phil-
legal status of its maritime ippine President Benigno
claims. China says virtually Aquino III said he support-
all of the South China Sea ed the U.S. naval maneu-
belongs to it, while Brunei, vers as an assertion of free-
Malaysia, the Philippines, dom of navigation and as
Taiwan and Vietnam claim a means to balance power
either parts or all of it. in the region.q