U.S. Navy To Send Destroyer Within 12 Miles Of Chinese Islands

[Purveyor]

Source: Reuters

World | Mon Oct 26, 2015 4:15pm EDT Related: WORLD, CHINA,
WASHINGTON | BY ANDREA SHALAL AND DAVID BRUNNSTROM

The U.S. Navy plans to send the destroyer USS Lassen within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea within 24 hours, in the first of a series of challenges to China's territorial claims, a U.S. defense official said on Monday.

The 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.

--CLIP
The patrols will mark the most serious U.S. challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit China claims around the islands and follows months of deliberation.

The move risks significantly upsetting already strained ties with China, the world's second-biggest economy, with which U.S. business and economic interests are deeply intertwined.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/26/us-southchinasea-usa-idUSKCN0SK2AC20151026

[jberryhill]

1. That's a weird plan

But at least we won't be able to hear them from there.

[OakCliffDem]

2. Military Industrial Complex is hungry for new contracts

Building another destroyer would make a good entry on Ingall's balance sheet.

[newfie11]

4. No doubt!

This will mushroom.

[JohnnyRingo]

6. That's not at all what this is about.

Read the entire article.

[alphafemale]

3. China is trying to take control of long established shipping lanes.

Screw that.

[JohnnyRingo]

5. I believe you're correct.

Despite the predictable claims here that this is some devious plan by the Military Complex to gain lucrative contacts, there's a real global threat if China is allowed to build islands that can be used to extend their borders into the South China Sea. Left unchecked they could literally control or shut down international shipping seen as violating their newly man made territorial waters.

Personally, I plan to cite this to my Reagan republican friends who call Obama a pussy. I believe we should keep a reign on The People's Republic now to avoid significant disputes later if this precedent is allowed to stand.

With a military that has as many members as the US has people, all out war must be averted now at all costs, and this move will likely bring them to some kind of negotiation, something that was avoided on the Chinese leader's recent visit to Washington. For once, the Navy really is acting as "a global force for good".

[davidpdx]

16. I'm glad someone agrees with me

I've been saying this for quite awhile. There are two reason China is laying claim to the islands: resources, and navigation. See post #14 for more info. All the Asian nations are very nervous about this.

[harun]

17. You forget that the goods being shipping in this area are CHINA's?

Natural that they would want to protect their merchants goods.

[RichVRichV]

27. There's nothing threatening their goods in the international shipping lanes.

This is about control over a region.

[GGJohn]

30. And just who is threatening their merchant goods?

This isn't about protecting their goods, this is about attempting to gain control over international shipping lanes and threatening other nation's merchant goods.
The US is doing the right thing by challenging China's absurd proclamation of sovereignty over international shipping lanes.

[NickB79]

32. You think other countries don't ship goods TO China?

Ships from all nations move through these waters, conducting INTERNATIONAL trade.

[hack89]

35. Japan and S Korea's oil shipments go through that area.

Quite a few countries depend on free access to those international waters.

[tammywammy]

7. Exactly. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

19. +1

While at the same time marginalizing their smaller Asian neighbors in that region...

[rockfordfile]

22. I agree

[Ilsa]

26. I agree. Trillions of dollars in shipping go through these areas

that China is trying to claim, even though some of those waters are claimed by the Vietnamese, etc.

China is building islands on reefs and air bases on those islands to claim sovereignty.

[frizzled]

8. What could possibly go wrong with that?

International relations between nuclear superpowers come down to playground rules of "I'm going to hit you if you step over this line". "Oh yeah? Well, I'm going to step over it anyway."

[Evergreen Emerald]

9. How does one make an island? Sand? Cables?

[EX500rider]

10. Dredging

[Evergreen Emerald]

11. Thanks

That makes sense.

[davidpdx]

15. See post #14 for the pictures

Just the environmental damage is devastating. If they start drilling for oil and gas it will kill the coral and sealife.

[NutmegYankee]

12. These are man made islands.

You can't make a string of artificial islands out into the sea and then try to claim the entire sea.

[davidpdx]

13. They sure are trying

See post #14 where I copy/pasted pictures I put in another thread just yesterday.

[harun]

18. They aren't claiming the whole sea and any nation can

claim whatever it wants.

With big guns the claims may even stick.

[hack89]

20. They basically are claiming the whole sea.

Last edited Tue Oct 27, 2015, 04:29 PM - Edit history (1)

and no, international law determines what nations can and cannot claim.

[NobodyHere]

23. Law is useless w/o the ability to enforce it.

[hack89]

24. Which is why the US Navy does freedom of navigation operations all over the world

on a frequent basis. It is to ensure the seas are open to all and that countries can't limit access based on illegal claims.

[GGJohn]

21. Yeah, they are basically claiming the whole sea,

they're claiming sovereignty over the international shipping lanes, which is against international law and should be confronted on it.

[EX500rider]

29. yes they are claiming the whole sea, right up to the shores of other countries..

[Uncle Joe]

33. That's a most enlightening map depicting the growing gravity of the situation in that region

of the world.

[davidpdx]

14. Posted yesterday in another thread

A bit about the Spratly Islands:

From Wikipedia:

The region is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. During the 1980s, at least 270 ships passed through the Spratly Islands region each day. More than half of the world's supertanker traffic, by tonnage, passes through the region's waters every year. Tanker traffic through the South China Sea is over three times greater than through the Suez Canal and five times more than through the Panama Canal; 25% of the world's crude oil passes through the South China Sea.

Philippine Marines are living out on an abandoned ship on one of the shoals to monitor the Chinese. I saw a program about this on either TV or Youtube (I can't remember which):



The Spratly Islands are very close to Palawan (a place I visited earlier this year). It isn't just China and the Philippines that have a dispute over the islands. There are also claims by Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Filipino fishermen are being harassed by the Chinese military over just being there to fish.

Then there is the environmental damage:

[EX500rider]

25. Good bye coral reef, hello military airstrip

[davidpdx]

31. I know, it's damn depressing

I've been down to that general area (not those islands, but I was on Palawan which is really close). If you can get out into the ocean where there is not much pollution there are lots of fish and beautiful coral. I plan on going down to Cebu very soon. I am so ****ing excited about it I can barely wait.

[Ilsa]

28. I've been following this also on BBC. nt

[alphafemale]

34. These aren't islands. It is sea trash in an attempt to control an entire sea.

It would be insane to capitulate and cower to shit like this.