Defense Policy

US Navy sends warship near disputed islands a day after China’s ’carrier killer’ missile test

Navy Times: The U.S. Navy sent a warship steaming near disputed islands in the South China Sea Thursday, a day after Beijing reportedly tested so-called “carrier killer” missiles in the same area.

The guided-missile destroyer Mustin “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law,” U.S. 7th Fleet spokeswoman Cmdr. Reann Mommsen said in a statement. “This freedom of navigation operation (‘FONOP’) upheld the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging the unlawful restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and also by challenging China’s claim to straight baselines enclosing the Paracel Islands.”

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