Military Technology 05/2021

and around the Spratly and Paracel Island chains of the South China Sea. The US Navy and Air Force also routinely demonstrate that they have the right “to operate wherever international law permits.” The USS BENFOLD conducted a FONOP in the South China Sea on 12 July, when it “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law,” according to a Navy statement. “This freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law, by challenging the unlawful restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and also by challenging China’s claim to strait baselines enclosing the Paracel Islands.” The Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) claimed they “chased away” the BENFOLD. According to Tian Junli, a spokesman for the Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), “The US mili- tary’s actions seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, seriously damaged the peace and stability of the South China Sea and seriously violated international law and the norms of international relations – more ironclad proof it is engaging in navigational hegemony to cause the milita- risation of the South China Sea. We strongly condemn and resolutely op- pose this, and we urge the US side to immediately stop their provocative actions and to strictly control their maritime and air activities. Otherwise, the US side will need to bear all consequences that arise from this.” During the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations virtual sum- mit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the US as “the biggest troublemaker” in the disputed South China Sea. The US Navy said the PRC’s statement about the BENFOLD’s mission was incorrect. “USS BENFOLD conducted this FONOP in accordance with international law and then continued on to conduct normal opera- tions in international waters. The operation reflects our commitment to up- hold freedom of navigation and lawful uses of the sea as a principle. The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as USS BENFOLD did here. Nothing PRC says otherwise will deter us.” A US Navy press statement said that the PLAN statement was just “the latest in a long string of PRC actions to misrepresent lawful US maritime operations and assert its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims at the expense of its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea. The PRC’s behavior stands in contrast to the United States’ adherence to in- ternational law and our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. All nations, large and small, should be secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms.” According to a statement from the US Seventh Fleet, US forces have operated in the South China Sea on a daily basis, and have done so for important for all nations […] The unlawful claim to the entire South China Sea threatens all of that. When we talk about the South China Sea, un- derstanding the importance is critical. We spend a lot of time with our allies and partners to ensure that the international rules-based order is maintained and unlawful claims don’t go without challenge.” He also said China’s recent unilateral renaming of 80 geographic fea- tures in the area, “with an inherent claim that goes with [that, is] counter to what all of the nations in the region would expect, believe, and what they need to maintain their prosperity […] This attempt to restate what a revisionist history view of claims is just counter to everything that those nations with common values believe […] We will operate here to ensure that freedom of navigation for all is maintained, and that we will preserve the stability and peace in the [region’s] shared prosperity.” Conventional Wisdom The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) recognises the rights and freedoms of all nations to engage in traditional uses of the sea. UNCLOS provides the international legal framework to protect sovereignty at sea, and to resolve disputes. While the United States is often criticised for having declined to ratify UNCLOS, that is a domestic political issue, which has not affected America’s adherence to the Law of the Sea. “Importantly, the US follows the rules of UNCLOS, and has done so for decades,” observed Michael McDevitt, a former Rear Adm and author of the recently published China as a Twenty-First-Century Naval Power: Theory, Practice, and Implications. “Washington issued a formal public statement in 1983 that it accepts and acts in accordance with the convention relating to traditio­ nal uses of the oceans -- such as navigation and overflight.” ‘Excessive maritime claims’ include China’s improperly drawn straight baselines, claiming a territorial sea (TTS) and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from islets that don’t rate both, requiring prior permission to pass through territorial seas while on innocent passage, and requiring warships to gain prior permission to enter an EEZ. China claims sovereignty over all the rocks and islands in the SCS, and the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia also claim sovereignty over many of the same features. All these nations, along with Taiwan, occupy some of the features in the SCS. “These are all the types of excessive maritime claims that China makes that our navy challenges through FONOPS,” McDevitt states. The US Navy routinely conducts FONOPS around the world, to chal- lenge what the US government considers to be excessive maritime claims. For example, last year, US forces challenged 28 excessive maritime claims by 19 countries, the DoD report states. This is, per- haps, most visible in the western Pacific, where the United States Navy routinely challenges China’s (and others) excessive maritime claims in A retired US Navy captain, Edward Lundquist covers the naval beat for MilTech from Springfield, VA and is a regular contributor to sister publication Naval Forces. A map showing the conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea. (Courtesy: Voice of America) An MH-60R on the USS JOHN FINN (DDG-113) in March. The JOHN FINN is part of the THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike Group on scheduled deployment to the US 7 th Fleet area of operations and interacts with 35 other nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (Photo: USN/MCS 3 rd Jason Waite) From the Bridge MT 5/2021 · 65