US Navy readies sea patrols near man-made Chinese islands in West Philippine Sea

By David S. Cloud | Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration will soon order Navy warships to patrol near man-made islands constructed by China in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea to the Philippines), a US warning that it will not accept Beijing’s vast territorial claims in the heavily traveled waters, officials said.

But a decision to escalate the tit-for-tat jockeying with Beijing carries risks: Depending on how the planned display of US power unfolds, it could be seen by Beijing and American allies in the region as a sign of US strength—or of a reluctance to confront China.

Protection of freedom of navigation

Malacañang, meanwhile, has enlisted support of more countries eager to protect freedom of navigation in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), as the United States justifies plan to sail near China’s artificial isles straddling vital sea-lanes in the region.

“Many countries have already indicated their support for the Philippines’s position on a rules-based, peaceful dispute settlement, and on upholding freedom of navigation long before this most recent development,” Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said on Wednesday.

Coloma did not identify the foreign governments that manifested backing for the Philippine position but earlier reports named several countries belonging to the Asean and the European Union (EU) that signaled encouragement for Philippine officials to pursue arbitration proceedings in international tribunal, as provided in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

President Aquino’s Chief Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, who was asked if the Palace intends to boost international backing for the government’s case against China’s encroachments in the West Philippine Sea, opted to pass the matter to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

“I have deferred questions on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to the DFA,” Lacierda said in a text message. This developed as ranking officials of the United States and Australia on Wednesday reaffirmed their governments commitment “to sustain and renew an Asia-Pacific regional security architecture, where everyone rises and everyone prospers.”

Options

The Pentagon has given President Barack Obama a menu of options that range from sending a lone, lightly armed vessel within the 12-mile territorial waters claimed by China around its dredged islands or a more formidable force of multiple warships and surveillance flights, an official familiar with the discussions said.

While US patrols within 12 miles of the islands in the Spratly archipelago are likely, officials say, Obama has not decided on how large a show of force he wants to make against China, a country with which the US is keen to maintain smooth relations, even as it seeks to counter Beijing’s growing assertiveness.

“Make no mistake, the US will fly, sail or operate wherever international law allows, as we do around the world—and the South China Sea is not and will not be an exception,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters on Tuesday, after he and Secretary of State John F. Kerry met with senior Australian officials in Boston.

Carter cited the “rising tensions” in the South China Sea and he called for an end to reclamation projects in the area, but he avoided criticizing China directly, and gave no indication when the Pentagon might challenge Beijing’s territorial claims.

Adm. Harry Harris, the commander of the United States Pacific Command, told reporters last Friday that he had laid out multiple options for sending ships near the islands claimed by China.

“I’m comfortable knowing those options are being considered, and we’ll execute as directed” by Obama, Harris said, refusing to provide details.

Militarization

After talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House last month, Obama vowed that the “US will continue to sail, fly and operate anywhere international law allows.” Xi, for his part, insisted that China had no plans to militarize islands in the South China Sea.

Other Chinese officials have warned the country would not tolerate intrusions in its territorial waters.

“We will never allow any country to violate China’s territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation and overflight,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hua Chinying told reporters on Friday at a news briefing, according to Reuters.

Dredging

The US has long refused to take sides in territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where, along with China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and others have multiple, sometimes overlapping claims.

Dredging by China in the past two years has built thousands of acres of new land on five coral outcrops in the Spratlys. On one, the Fiery Cross Reef, China is building a 10,000-foot runway potentially usable by military warplanes. But US officials emphasize that man-made islands do not constitute sovereign territory under international law and, therefore, cannot be used to assert claims to territorial waters.

It’s rare for the Pentagon to telegraph in advance such a sensitive military move. The Navy conducts dozens of so-called freedom of navigation operations around the world every year, sending ships into disputed maritime areas, usually with no notice, to underscore US claims that they are international waters.

International waters

Alerting Beijing that it is planning such an operation in the Spratlys, the US may be hoping to lessen the chance of an inadvertent confrontation, analysts said.

But it also gives Beijing time to position its own naval and coast- guard forces in the vicinity so that it can shadow or potentially harass US ships that cross the 12-mile line. The last time the US patrolled near South China Sea islands areas claimed by China was in 2012, before the reclamation projects began, officials said.

In May a US Navy P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft flew near Fiery Cross Reef but stayed outside the 12-mile limit. Even so, a Chinese military dispatcher demanded repeatedly that the airplane leave the area, warning that it was approaching a “military alert zone.”

The same month, a US warship sailed through the Spratlys but also remained more than 12 miles away from China’s man-made islands. It was tailed but not interfered with by a Chinese navy vessel.

Last month China sent five military ships into the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. At one point, US officials said, the ships entered US territorial waters, invoking a provision in maritime law that allows a warship to cross into another country’s maritime territory legally as long as the ships moved “expeditiously and continuously.”

The planned US operation in the Spratlys is not comparable, in the US view, because it asserts that the Chinese-claimed islands are in international waters.

(With Butch Fernandez)