The U.S. Seventh Fleet Public Affairs Commander stated on Friday that the missile destroyer USS Halsey, DDG-97, adhering to international law, has conducted a Freedom of Navigation Operation (Fonop) near the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, asserting navigation rights and freedom.
This passage of the U.S. Navy through the South China Sea came after the USS Halsey transited the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the U.S. and the Philippines had just concluded their 2024 series of exercises.
The USS Halsey is a missile destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class, part of Destroyer Squadron 15 (DESRON). DESRON 15 is the largest destroyer squadron in the U.S. Navy and is the primary surface force of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
The Chinese Communist Party is dissatisfied with this move. According to a statement on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, the Chinese military once again condemned U.S. hegemony and claimed that Chinese warships would expel the USS Halsey from the island chain.
According to the Seventh Fleet’s statement, the USS Halsey destroyer’s navigation challenges Beijing’s restrictions on passage near islands controlled by the Chinese government, as these restrictions violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The U.S. military stated that their harmless passage without prior notification to any claimant state or seeking permission from them questions these unauthorized restrictions under international law.
According to Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, innocent passage refers to the right of warships to pass through another country’s territorial sea within 12 nautical miles without prior notification, “so long as it does not prejudice the peace, good order, or security of the coastal State.”
This means that warships cannot launch or retrieve aircraft, fire weapons, use certain radars, or take any other action that would impede the warship’s passage directly.
The statement read: “Unilaterally imposing any authorization or prior notification requirements for harmless passage is illegal.”
This operation also included challenging Beijing’s claims of baselines in the sea around the Xisha Islands. Beijing insists that warships crossing that island chain must provide prior notification before entry.