BEIJING has reacted angrily to the presence of two US warships in disputed waters of the South China Sea, calling it a ‘provocation’ and a serious assault on its ‘sovereignty’.

Chinese state media source CGTN says the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) “acted immediately” and ordered its own warships and aircraft to intercept the USS Higgins and USS Antietam.

It says the US warships ‘arbitrarily entered’ waters surrounding the Xisha (Paracel) Islands.

“The defence ministry said that the Xisha Islands are an inherent part of China’s territory,” the CGTN report reads. “China resolutely opposes the US actions which go against China’s laws and relative international laws.”

However, that’s not what international law says.

A 2015 appeal by the Philippines to an international court of arbitration produced a verdict rejecting Beijing’s claim that up to 80 per cent of the South China Sea historically belonged to it. The ruling says there was no evidence to support such a claim.

And the US ‘freedom of navigation’ exercise comes amid fresh evidence Beijing is continuing to arm its illegal island outposts.

‘PROVOCATIVE’ ACT
“The US provocative action by sending once again warships into China’s territorial waters surrounding the Xisha Islands violated Chinese law and relevant international law, seriously infringed sovereignty of China,” Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Wu Quian stated.

Wu told media that the Xisha (Paracel) islands are China’s “inherent territory”.

“According to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, the Chinese government promulgated the baseline of the territorial sea off the Xisha (Parcel) Islands in 1996.”

“The Chinese military is unshakeably determined to strengthen its naval and air combat readiness, raise defence level, safeguard national sovereignty and security and maintain regional peace and stability.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said the US warships had trespassed into China’s territorial waters without permission of the Chinese government, and the Chinese navy identified the US warships, warned and “expelled” them.

“The Chinese side strongly urges the US side to immediately stop such kind of provocative operations that violate China’s sovereignty and threaten China’s security,” Lu said.

‘EXCESSIVE CLAIMS’
The US Pacific Fleet overnight issued a statement saying the warship’s mission was to “challenge excessive maritime claims and demonstrate our commitment to uphold the rights, freedoms, and uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.”

Such “routine and regular operations” were “not about one country, nor are they about making political statements”, it said.

The Paracel Islands, at the centre of the weekend standoff, are jointly claimed by Vietnam and China. Other regions of the South China Sea fall within the internationally defined territorial and economic boundaries of the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei as established by the United Nations after World War II.

China, which has steadily extended its military influence throughout the region through its illegal artificial island construction campaign, has rejected the ruling and insists it has the right to defend “its territory'.

FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION
The two US Navy warships sailed through waters claimed by China yesterday, two US officials told Reuters.

The US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the USS Higgins guided-missile destroyer and the USS Antietam, a guided-missile cruiser, came within 12 nautical miles (22km) of the Paracel Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbours.

Both ships appear to have recently departed their deployment to the Arabian Sea. They appear to have undertaken what the United States calls a “Freedom of Navigation Exercise” en route to their home ports.

The US military vessels carried out manoeuvring operations near Tree, Lincoln, Triton and Woody islands in the Paracels, one of the officials said.

Little more than a week ago, Beijing boasted it had landed several aircraft — including its nuclear-capable H-3K bombers — on Woody Island, one of its Paracel Islands fortresses.

The move flies in the face of Beijing’s repeated promises that it was not seeking to ‘militarise’ the disputed islands.

But the presence of the US warships comes amid China appearing to increase the presence of advanced weaponry on Woody Islands. This is despite a US warning last month that any further militarisation of the South China Sea would be met with ‘consequences’.

‘NEW WEAPONS’ SPOTTED
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has published a report saying it has detected the fresh deployment of combat aircraft and several new weapons systems to Woody Island.

It says one J-11 has been seen parked at the end of one runway on May 12, with several others likely inside nearby hardened hangars. Similar fighters were also deployed to Woody Island in October last year.

But the report, released late last week, says there appears to be several arrays of new missiles positioned on the islands beaches under multi-coloured covers.

These are distinct from the HQ-9 surface-to-air missile systems (under brown covers) which were installed on the island in early 2016.

Some 20 new vehicles have been identified, bundled into several different groups. The report says it is difficult to determine what these new weapons are, but states they’re likely to include truck-mounted surface-to-air and anti-ship missile systems and their accompanying radars.

“Those under the red covers are wired together in two distinct groups,” the report reads. “The group farthest west appears to consist of two larger vehicles (perhaps anti-air or anti-ship missiles systems on transporter erector launchers (TELs), though they seem to be shorter than the HQ-9s to the east), two smaller vehicles (perhaps a different missile system), and a large radar truck. The group in the middle consists of another radar truck and two of the smaller vehicles. The blue covers likely consist of various support vehicles.”

“Two trucks and four covered vehicles on the east side of Woody Island. These are smaller than the platforms under the red covers on the north, and they don’t appear to be wired together in any way. They are roughly the same size as the jamming platforms China deployed to Mischief Reef in the Spratlys earlier this year, but it is difficult to know for sure what is under the tarps.”

CISIS says the missile vehicles arrived as part of military drills held in the area on May 9. However, it adds new satellite images published by Fox News indicate they were still there as of May 20.

“This suggests that the platforms could be there to stay, just as the HQ-9s that were originally sent to Woody as part of an exercise have remained for more than two years,” the report reads.