US navy to send destroyer within 24 hours to challenge China territorial claims.

US navy to send destroyer in serious challenge to China territorial claims
Patrol marks most serious US challenge yet to territorial limit China claims around the islands in South China Sea, and follows months of deliberation South China Sea The US navy plans to send the USS Lassen destroyer within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea within 24 hours, the first of more regular challenges to China’s territorial claims, according to a US defense official. The destroyer’s patrol would occur near Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago, features that were formerly submerged at high tide before China began a massive dredging project to turn them into islands in 2014. The ship would probably be accompanied by a US navy P-8A surveillance plane, and possibly P-3 surveillance plane, which have been conducting regular surveillance missions in the region, the official said on Monday. If US relations with China turn sour, there will probably be war Timothy Garton Ash Timothy Garton Ash Read more The patrol will mark the most serious US challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit China claims around the islands, and follows months of deliberation. Additional patrols could follow in coming weeks, the official said. Similar US patrols were also conducted around features that Vietnam and the Philippines have built up in the Spratlys in the past, according to the US Defense Department. The move risks significantly upsetting already strained ties with China, the world’s second-biggest economy, with which US business and economic interests are deeply intertwined. The patrol will come just weeks ahead of a series of Asia-Pacific summits the US president, Barack Obama, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are expected to attend in the second half of November. China claims most of the South China Sea and on 9 October its foreign ministry warned that Beijing would “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”. The United States argues that under international law, building up artificial islands on previously submerged reefs does not entitle a country to claim a territorial limit and that it is vital to maintain freedom of navigation in a sea through which more than $5tn of world trade passes every year.

www.theguardian.com...

Forget all the arguments on who owns what and focus on how will China respond?

Could we get a escalation or will China blink?

I am not sure they will going by the what i have read so far.

But how they will respond i do not have a clue.

China should respond the same way we would respond if the Chinese sent their equivalent to destroyers within 12 NM of our shores.

a reply to: joho99

Ohh joy, one step closer to WWIII...

a reply to: odzeandennz

Except that our destroyer won't be within their 12 mile limit. Artificial islands don't include sovereignty to the waters around them, and these are well outside Chinese territorial waters, or even their EEZ.

China already entered US territorial waters though.


www.washingtonpost.com... 5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html

originally posted by: odzeandennz
China should respond the same way we would respond if the Chinese sent their equivalent to destroyers within 12 NM of our shores.

These are not recognised as part of China's territorial waters. China is acting very belligerently to nations that surround the South Chiba Sea, many of whom are allied to the US.

I don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, yea, China, not cool making false land claims, and something needs to be done.

But does it have to be the US? This early on? The idea of poking the dragon scares me. Their warnings sound pretty serious.

Also, it seems a bit grotesque to send a bunch of young men and woman possibly to their grave. China might not have the best equipment in their gun safe, but they are DEFINITELY capable of sinking a destroyer if they really want to.

originally posted by: odzeandennz
China should respond the same way we would respond if the Chinese sent their equivalent to destroyers within 12 NM of our shores.

But US is the defender of democracy, they can do that.

originally posted by: joho99
Could we get a escalation or will China blink?

I'm not sure those are the only two options.
What about; China attacking the ship, then standing back, looking inscrutable, and leaving it to the Americans to decide whether to escalate?
"We are not at war, but we will attack any warship that enters our waters".

originally posted by: odzeandennz
China should respond the same way we would respond if the Chinese sent their equivalent to destroyers within 12 NM of our shores.

Well according to INternational Law CHINA does not have a valid claim or a leg to stand on seeing as how artificially created islands fall outside of the territorial waters of CHina.

ANd if i remember already CHina has already blinked and will not do anything to the U S ship when it does come by.

Watch China dump more U.S debt on the market when and if this kicks off they have lots of ways of hurting you without sending ships to the bottom of the sea .

Cue ..... Kim jong un

a reply to: joho99

What did China think was gonna happen? The USA was just gonna roll over and not take pictures of an artificial island in the middle of international waters? Unless China wants to flex I don't see the risk/reward in this type of move

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: odzeandennz
China should respond the same way we would respond if the Chinese sent their equivalent to destroyers within 12 NM of our shores.

Well according to INternational Law CHINA does not have a valid claim or a leg to stand on seeing as how artificially created islands fall outside of the territorial waters of CHina.

ANd if i remember already CHina has already blinked and will not do anything to the U S ship when it does come by.

When is the last time the US followed international law? To send a ship to the area is one thing. To get within 12NM of the man made island is a completely different story. I prefer the US stop playing world police.

This is simply not worth it in my opinion. There has to be a better solution than the threat of war.

a reply to: DISRAELI

That would be classed as a escalation then the ball would be in the the U.S. court.

But you have to presume they would have a preplanned contingency for your scenario.

But carrying it out would be a different matter entirely.

a reply to: JDmOKI

I agree and more so when you consider it could affect $5 trillion in trade a year.

a reply to: Isurrender73

Man made islands don't have a 12 mile limit. They could sail right up to them if they wanted to. As for the US doing it, everyone in the area that has the capability to sail near the islands is even higher on the list of nations that China hates than the US.

What a stupid move. Just more sabre rattling and chest puffing.
US Navy will never enter that 12 NM territorial waters, and Chinese will put a broken record saying "get out, get out."
That's it.
Elections coming in the US, you do the math...

a reply to: joho99
Yes, because then it would be a question of political will.
America suffers from the disadvantage of having to argue out foreign policy in public, and might well waver.
Possibly the President himself would be less keen than the Republicans in Congress?
The Chinese could be willing to gamble on that.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Isurrender73

Man made islands don't have a 12 mile limit. They could sail right up to them if they wanted to. As for the US doing it, everyone in the area that has the capability to sail near the islands is even higher on the list of nations that China hates than the US.

I understand that there is no laws in place protecting the island from traffic. Does that mean we have to show how tuff we are?

Like I said there has to be another solution. I am tired of living in a nation where the solution to every problem is war and threat of war.

Maybe if the military industrial complex would back off the war path China would be more willing to negotiate.

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: odzeandennz
China should respond the same way we would respond if the Chinese sent their equivalent to destroyers within 12 NM of our shores.

Well according to INternational Law CHINA does not have a valid claim or a leg to stand on seeing as how artificially created islands fall outside of the territorial waters of CHina.

ANd if i remember already CHina has already blinked and will not do anything to the U S ship when it does come by.

1) China is not the only country which has claimed partial territory in the region. Vietnam has already made its claim Philippines etc. the US didnt bat an eye when they did.
2)im not sure what 'blink' means, maybe a quick blind war mongering connotation, most likely.

.. but since the late 80's China had control over that region (in the SOUTH CHINA SEA)

this thread will derail off topic... how should China Answer is the question...... i dont see any other countries sending WARSHIPS to the SOUTH CHINA SEA, just the US, why? the US wants a piece of the region for strategic military purposes, and we have as usual, put it under the guise of other agendas; History would prove this right...

remember, other countries have already claimed their regions in the area, none of which would ever pose a threat to the US Economically, Politically, Militarily etc...but China!?
Patriotism is like glaucoma keeping people from reading between the lines.

a reply to: Isurrender73

And the US was to blame when China fired on Vietnamese ships, right? Or did any of the other things against other Asian nations that they've done over the last few years?