US warship challenges China near Paracel Islands

A US naval warship approached the islands of the Paracel Islands that China is illegally occupying in the East Sea.

US destroyer USS Decatur. Photo: America's Navy

Reuters quoted news fromThe US Department of Defense said the guided-missile destroyer's passage through the areaUSS Decatur on October 21 was a "routine, lawful, unescorted and incident-free operation."

The ship approached Tri Ton and Phu Lam islands, part of Vietnam's Hoang Sa archipelago, which China is illegally occupying, and was monitored by three Chinese ships, but all interactions between the two sides took place safely.do not enter within 12 nautical miles of the islands.

This is the fourth time the US has sent ships to the South China Sea to challenge China's sovereignty claims in the past year and the first time since May. On the previous three occasions, US warships entered the 12-nautical mile zone around the islands, angering China.

China brazenly asserts sovereignty over most of the East Sea with its "cow tongue line" claim, despite objections from neighboring countries, the international community, and the ruling of the Arbitration Court in the Netherlands in July.

The US criticized the activitiesChina's illegal military buildup in the waters and expressed concern that they could limit freedom of navigation.

China has an airstrip and has installed surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, its largest presence in the Paracel Islands.

Vietnam claims to have full legal basis and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, and at the same timeperseveranceresolutely opposes and has repeatedly requested China to immediately end illegal activities here, seriously implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.on the Law of the Sea1982.

According to VNE