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South China Sea: Beijing lashes out at Trump after US sends warship past disputed reefs
Daily Express ^ | PUBLISHED: 16:44, Tue, Feb 25, 2020 | UPDATED: 17:50, Tue, Feb 25, 2020 | Rebekah Evans

Posted on 03/06/2020 10:11:25 AM PST by Zhang Fei

The country has called upon Washington to pull back and stop infringing upon its sovereignty after the unprecedented action. China is disputing the missile destroyer USS Wayne E Meyer’s presence within 12 nautical miles of two reefs it has laid claim to. Fiery Cross and Mischief reefs are the two biggest artificial islands in the disputed Spratlys.

This was the first time a US warship had challenged Chinese outposts at the same time.

Spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command, Colonel Li Huamin, accused the US of “acting as a hegemony in ignorance of the international laws and rules”.

He urged the Trump administration to stop “provocative actions”, saying it would otherwise result in an “unpredictable incident”.

He added: “Our troops will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and firmly safeguard the peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

Colonel Huamin said the PLA Navy and Air Force had identified the destroyer, sent warning, and then expelled it.

But the US have maintained their presence in the region is fair and without excessive force.

One expert described this as a warning to Bejing.

Collin Koh, a research fellow in S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore said: “Clearly, under the Trump administration, we see a more concrete drive towards Freedom of Navigation Operations Programmes in the South China Sea.

“The operations do have an effect of emphasising the rule of law, deterring Beijing from more drastic aggression beyond militarisation and coercion – such as outright attacking other claimants’ garrisons and annexing those rival features – as well as generally demonstrating the US security commitment to the region, to show to the smaller and weaker regional states that it still cares.”

China has previously accused the US of “deliberate provocations” over the South

(Excerpt) Read more at express.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; kag; maga; trump
While asylum-grade Chinese hysteria and hypochondria over the latest (coronavirus) flu variant was flooding the news, other things were happening around the world. Trump continues to push back against China's territorial expansion, just the latest in a several thousand year campaign of incremental enlargement at its neighbors' expense. Ever wonder wonder the Chinese have fought so many "invaders"? Just look at maps of China over the millennia. Hint - those weren't "invaders".
1 posted on 03/06/2020 10:11:25 AM PST by Zhang Fei
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To: Zhang Fei

Provoke the heck out of the Chinese.


2 posted on 03/06/2020 10:15:04 AM PST by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: Zhang Fei
Territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) from the baseline (usually the mean low-water mark) of a coastal state.

I imagine they were outside territorial waters and not "within" 12 miles.

3 posted on 03/06/2020 10:16:41 AM PST by grobdriver (BUILD KATE'S WALL!)
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To: grobdriver

Those manufactured islands are not a coastal state, they are an attempt by the Chinese to force themselves into an oil rich area owned by others.


4 posted on 03/06/2020 10:21:46 AM PST by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: grobdriver

[I imagine they were outside territorial waters and not “within” 12 miles. ]


They were within “territorial waters”, which is another way of saying Uncle Sam does not acknowledge those to be Chinese territorial waters. They are someone’s territorial waters (probably the Philippines’) - just not China’s.


5 posted on 03/06/2020 10:25:50 AM PST by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: Zhang Fei

F*** CHINA!!!!!


6 posted on 03/06/2020 10:27:26 AM PST by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism.)
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To: ConservativeMind

[Provoke the heck out of the Chinese.]


Given that not acknowledging their relentless territorial enlargement as legit is provocative to the Chinese, there’s no way to not be provocative without retreating all the way to CONUS.


7 posted on 03/06/2020 10:29:27 AM PST by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: Zhang Fei

The Chicoms claim everything within their vision. If I were Trump I would talk with Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand and create a permanent Allied fleet in the South China Sea dedicated to keeping shipping lanes open and sail by those fake islands twice a week or more. Ignore the Chicoms claims and follow international and maritime law. This would piss them off royally and it allows Allied navies to observe Chicom reactions, gather intel and it gives us a force in the South China Sea the Chicoms have to contend with daily.


8 posted on 03/06/2020 10:37:18 AM PST by sarge83
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To: Zhang Fei

Next time we should board your vessel and hold each of her sailors captive for a month. Suck it, Chicoms!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan_Island_incident

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/02/world/us-plane-in-china-after-it-collides-with-chinese-jet.html


9 posted on 03/06/2020 10:43:39 AM PST by RasterMaster ("Towering genius disdains a beaten path." - Abraham Lincoln)
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To: Zhang Fei

All your coral reefs are belong to us.


10 posted on 03/06/2020 10:57:58 AM PST by FreedomNotSafety
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To: Zhang Fei
The Navy and/or the Air Force should be sailing warships into these 'disputed" waters daily and they should be flying F18s over thOSE waters daily as well.

EVERY SINGLE DAY!


11 posted on 03/06/2020 10:59:54 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (The Rats Can't Get Over The Fact That They Lost A Rigged Election)
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To: FreedomNotSafety

LOL!


12 posted on 03/06/2020 11:32:40 AM PST by KOZ.
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To: KOZ.

Philipines are scared the Chicoms and won’t fight for them. Why should we care? Award them to a country willing to fight them. I say India.


13 posted on 03/06/2020 11:36:16 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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To: Zhang Fei

these are man made island from reefs. not official islands. the Chinese are after the oil in the spratleys. china should try and stop our boats and planes and see what happens. They drive their planes and boats next to the usa and guam.


14 posted on 03/06/2020 12:08:27 PM PST by merkava
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