The U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Milius sailed today to within 12 miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly/Nansha Islands, in another so-called ‘freedom of navigation’ operation (FONOP). “Features like Mischief Reef that are submerged at high tide in their naturally formed state are not entitled to a territorial sea. The land reclamation efforts, installations, and structures built on Mischief Reef do not change this characterization under international law,” the U.S. 7th Fleet statement announcing the FONOP said, reported CNN.
“China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters,” Senior Colonel Tian Junli, the spokesperson for the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command said in a statement in response. “The troops of the PLA Southern Theater Command will always stay on high alert and resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty and security, as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
The FONOP came on the third day of People’s Liberation Army air and naval exercises around Taiwan. As of 10 a.m. this morning local time, Taiwan detected 59 PLA aircraft and 11 warships near Taiwan. Thirty-nine of the war planes crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan officials see these exercises as about the same as those that took place last year after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. “This time around, if you look at the intensity of their air threat or naval threat against Taiwan, I think it’s similar to what we saw at the time,” Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said in an interview with Bloomberg News on April 10, referring to the aftermath of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August.
U.S. military activities in the region, otherwise, are on a high tempo. U.S. Pacific Air Forces is showing its “might” with the deployment of four B-52 bombers to Guam on a bomber task force mission. The U.S., Japan and South Korea began a combined anti-submarine exercise on April 3, and next week the U.S. begins the largest iteration of the U.S.-Philippines exercise in its history. The combined exercise involves the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group, along with four South Korean destroyers and a Japanese destroyer. The combined operations included anti-submarine warfare exercises, search and rescue drills, and staff embarkations, according to a. U.S. Navy news release issued on April 4.
Separately, the USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group wrapped up its participation in Exercise Ssang Yong 2023 in Korea on April 4. That exercise involved 28,000 Korean and U.S. sailors and marines, 30 warships, 70 aircraft and 50 amphibious assault vehicles. A detachment from the United Kingdom’s Royal Marines Commandos also joined in the exercise.
