The Chinese military has accused the United States of seriously infringing on its sovereignty and security after the USS Halsey, an American missile destroyer, entered the territorial waters of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on May 10. In a statement released on Friday, the Southern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) said it had closely monitored and "drove away" the US warship, calling the move "yet another iron proof of its navigation hegemony and militarization of the South China Sea."
The US Navy, however, disputed China's account, stating that the USS Halsey had asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands "consistent with international law." The Navy spokesperson added that the destroyer had exited the area after its operation and continued on in the South China Sea.
The latest dispute between China and the US comes amid heightened tensions in the strategic waterway, with US ally the Philippines embroiled in a bitter diplomatic row with Beijing over disputed waters in the region. China claims large swaths of the South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Beijing's claims had no basis under international law.
Col. Tian Junli, a spokesperson for the PLA's Southern Theater Command, accused the United States of being "the biggest destroyer of peace" in the region. The Paracels, surrounded by fishing grounds and suspected oil and gas reserves, were partly held by Vietnam until China seized all the islands and reefs in a naval battle in 1974. Taiwan also claims the territory.
The US Seventh Fleet, based in Japan, released a statement challenging China's decision to declare a "straight baseline" around the Paracel archipelago, effectively expanding its territorial sea limits by several large maritime zones. The Navy called this a violation of the provisions of the United Nations' 1982 Law of the Sea Treaty.
"Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations," the statement read.
The Seventh Fleet emphasized that regardless of which claimant has sovereignty over the islands, it is unlawful to draw straight baselines around the Paracel Islands in their entirety. "Furthermore, international law does not permit continental State, like the PRC, to establish baselines around entire dispersed island groups. With these baselines, the PRC has attempted to claim more internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf than it is entitled to under international law," the Navy added.
The USS Halsey's operation was the first such maneuver by the US Navy in the region this year, following four in 2023. The destroyer had previously sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, drawing protests from China.
The Pentagon released an annual report on May 8, detailing all freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) conducted in the fiscal year 2023. The document revealed that US forces had operationally challenged 29 different excessive maritime claims advanced by 17 different claimants throughout the world, including China, Russia, and several other countries.
