Alwaght- For the first time under Donald Trump's presidency a US warship has made provocative moves aimed at challenging China's sovereignty over South China Sea.
According to the US media report the USS Dewey guided missile destroyer has reportedly sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
The US warship passed near Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands on Wednesday under the “Freedom of Navigation” principle.
The USS Dewey sailed within 12 nautical miles of the disputed land, then Washington seemingly violated China's territorial claims. Territorial waters are defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as a belt of coastal waters extending 12 nautical miles from the coast.
Wednesday’s freedom of navigation sail was the United States’ first sail since October and the first since Donald Trump took office in January.
In a statement to The Japan Times, the Pentagon refused to confirm or deny the report. The Wall Street Journal also failed to get a definitive answer from the Pentagon.
“We operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea,” Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told the publication in a statement.
“We operate in accordance with international law,” he added, emphasizing the patrols are “not about any one country, or any one body of water.”
Last April a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense said the so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea conducted by the U.S. military are "very dangerous."
Wu Qian said the US operations are political and military provocations against China and could easily lead to unexpected incidents, spokesman at a monthly press conference.
The "freedom of navigation" has been used by the US as an excuse for intervening in disputes in the South China Sea, according to the spokesman.
China says it has always respected and supported "real freedom of navigation" in accordance with international law and is firmly opposed to all acts that harm China's sovereignty and security interests under the name of "freedom of navigation."