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U.S. NEWS A3
Tuesday 27 October 2015
US Navy to sail warship near reefs claimed by China
ROBERT BURNS by China would be to dem- In this photo, the USS Lassen is anchored in Yokosuka near Tokyo. The U.S. Navy is preparing to sail
AP National Security Writer onstrate the U.S. assertion the USS Lassen near artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea in a long-anticipated
WASHINGTON (AP) — The that they are not sovereign challenge to what it considers Beijing’s “excessive claim” of sovereignty in those waters, two U.S.
U.S. Navy is preparing to Chinese territory. officials said Oct. 26.
sail a warship near artificial “Make no mistake, the Unit-
islands built by China in the ed States will fly, sail and (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
South China Sea in a long- operate wherever interna-
anticipated challenge to tional law allows, as we do in the South China Sea has China claims virtually all of merged reefs in the Spratly
what it considers Beijing’s around the world, and the become an increasingly the South China Sea. The archipelago into artificial
“excessive claim” of sover- South China Sea is not and sore point in relations with Philippines and other coun- islands with runways and
eignty in those waters, two will not be an exception,” the United States, even as tries that have territorial dis- wharves.
U.S. officials said Monday. Defense Secretary Ash President Barack Obama putes with China in the busy Adm. Harry Harris Jr., com-
The officials said the White Carter said on Oct. 13. and China’s President Xi sea have been particularly mander of the U.S. Pa-
House approved the move- “We’ll do that at times and Jinping have sought to concerned by China’s re- cific Command, has said
ment by the USS Lassen, a places of our choosing,” deepen cooperation in cent land reclamation the South China Sea is no
guided missile destroyer, Carter said. “And there’s no other areas, such as cli- projects that have turned moreChina’s than the Gulf
around the Spratly Islands exception to that, whether mate change. a number of previously sub- of Mexico is Mexico’s.q
archipelago, a disputed it’s the Arctic or the sea
group of hundreds of reefs, lanes that fuel international
islets, atolls and islands in commerce widely around
the South China. the world, or the South Chi-
The move is expected to na Sea.”
take place within a day or State Department spokes-
so. man John Kirby said Mon-
The officials spoke on con- day the U.S. would not be
dition of anonymity be- required to consult with
cause they were not autho- other nations if it decided
rized to discuss the matter to conduct freedom of
in advance of the Lassen’s navigation operations in
movement. international waters any-
A Pentagon spokesman, where on the globe.
Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, de- “The whole point of free-
clined to comment. dom of navigation in inter-
The Obama administration national waters is that it’s
has long said it will exercise international waters. You
a right to freedom of navi- don’t need to consult with
gation in any international anybody. That’s the idea,”
waters, including in the Kirby said. He referred
South China Sea. The point questions about specific
of sailing a U.S. ship within Navy ship movements to
12 nautical miles of any of the Pentagon.
the artificial islands created China’s assertive behavior
5 Britons killed after whale boat sinks off Vancouver Island
J. HAINSWORTH rive until Monday afternoon A life raft used on the whale watching boat Leviathan II floats derwater recovery team to
R. GILLIES in Tofino, a remote commu- near Tofino, British Columbia, Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. The whale search for the missing per-
Associated Press nity of about 2,000 people watching boat with over two dozen people on board sank off son, with assistance from
VANCOUVER, British Co- at the very tip of a penin- Vancouver Island, the British Foreign Minister said Monday, kill- the Coast Guard and local
lumbia (AP) — Five Brit- sula some 200 miles (320 ing multiple people. search and rescue person-
ish nationals died when a kilometers) northwest of nel.
whale watching boat with Victoria, the capital of Brit- (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press via AP) The other 21 people
27 people on board sank ish Columbia. Jamie Bray, aboard the boat were res-
off Vancouver Island, the the owner of the company Barbara McLintock, a coro- of them were residents cued Sunday.
British Foreign Minister said that operates the boat, ner’s spokeswoman, said of Canada. Their names Boats from the nearby
Monday. One person was said he is cooperating with four men and one woman were not released. Ahoushat First Nation ar-
missing and the rest were investigators to determine died and their ages ranged The Royal Canadian rived first on the scene, said
rescued, some by mem- what happened. from 18 to 76. She said two Mounted Police sent an un- aboriginal Councilor Tom
bers of the local aboriginal British Foreign Secretary Campbell. He was on the
community who rushed to Philip Hammond confirmed waterfront and watched
help. The cause of the sink- in a statement that the five as rescuers brought several
ing remained a mystery. killed were U.K. nationals. survivors ashore. He said his
The boat made a mayday He said consular officials in cousin pulled at least eight
call late Sunday afternoon British Columbia were sup- people from the cold wa-
on a calm, clear and sun- porting family members of ter onto a boat.
ny day off Tofino, a popu- those who died. “Their looks tell the whole
lar destination for whale “My thoughts are with the story,” he said by phone
watchers, the Joint Rescue family and friends of all from Tofino. “You can’t de-
Coordination Centre said. those affected by this ter- scribe looks on people that
Government investigators rible accident,” Hammond are lost. They look totally
were not expected to ar- said. lost — shocked and lost.”q
