Alwaght- In a move set to trigger more tensions with China, The US Pacific Command has for the first time developed a schedule for naval presence at the South China Sea.
Unnamed US officials said on Friday that, the military presence will be within the framework of the so-called freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS).
This would mark a considered approach to FONOPS in the disputed South China Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported.
China has called previous FONOPS by the US provocative. There have been three so far under President Donald Trump, and four under the previous Barack Obama administration.
China reacted sharply to a US patrol on July 2, when the American destroyer USS Stethem passed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels chain.
The Paracel Islands are contested by China, Taiwan and Vietnam while the Spratly Islands are also additionally claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. China claims sovereignty over a large part of the South China Sea, a region crucial for China’s maritime trade.
Officials in Beijing say their country respects freedom of navigation and overflight in the East China Sea and South China Sea in accordance with international law.
China opposes any individual country using the banner of freedom of navigation and overflight to flaunt military force and harm China's sovereignty and security," China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said in July.
Beijing insists that South China Sea islands are an integral part of China's territory adding that it retains the right to build facilities, including those for necessary defense purposes, on its own territory.
