The contested area is Triton Island, located in the Paracel archipelago. China, Vietnam, and Taiwan all lay claim to the island, although China currently controls it as a military base.
This is the second time during President Trump’s presidency that the U.S. has confronted China on the water. The first was on May 25, when a U.S. destroyer was sent into the boundaries of China’s Mischief Reef.
The exercises are part of The Pentagon’s “freedom of navigation operations,” known as FONOPS, which are meant to challenge the authority of countries with land claims to disputed territories. In the previous year, the U.S. led FONOPS in 22 different coastal states.
Although China is attempting to militarize the entire South China Sea, it faces opposition from a number of Asian states including Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam, according to NDTV. The U.S. does not recognize China’s sovereignty over the archipelago.
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“Fake islands should not be believed by real people,” said U.S. Admiral Harry Harris. “China is using its military and economic power to erode the rules-based international order.”
China responded by sending military ships and planes to inform the U.S. destroyer that it was out of bounds. It released a statement saying that the U.S. “stirs up trouble” and runs “in the opposite direction from countries in the region who aspire for stability, cooperation and development,” according to CNN.
Tensions between the two countries ran high last week as President Trump pressed sanctions against a Chinese bank linked to North Korea’s nuclear program and made a deal to sell $1.4 billions worth of arms to Taiwan.
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