US Navy Will Continue Operations in South China Sea - Carter

The US Navy did send its destroyer within the 12-mile limit of a disputed island in the South China Sea and it will carry out more operations of the same kind in coming months, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Asked to confirm media reports that the US destroyer approached the disputed islands in the South China Sea, the US defense secretary said, “What you read in the newspaper is accurate and I don’t want to say more than that."

“There have been naval ops in that region and – there will be more…We are doing more at sea. We are doing more in the way of presence. We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits and wherever our operational needs require,” Carter said at a hearing.

On Tuesday, media reported that the USS Lassen destroyer had passed the Subi and Mischief reefs as part of a patrol lasting several hours. The Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed that the incident was illegal and a violation of Beijing’s sovereignty.

China has been constructing artificial islands on top of the coral reef habitats of the Spratly Islands, a group of over 750 islands and reefs, over the past few months. Beijing claimed sovereignty over the land and the 12 nautical mile zone surrounding the islands.

The United States has warned that it does not recognize the Chinese claims of sovereignty over the man-made islands, and has repeatedly raised concerns over Beijing’s activities in the region.