Ensign Nicole Choi looks through a telescopic alidade as the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey sails near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. (Gregory Johnson/U.S. Navy)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — A U.S. Navy warship cruised past four occupied features of a contested island chain in the South China Sea on Friday to protest “excessive maritime claims.”
The guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey “asserted navigation rights and freedoms” near the Spratly Islands, about 100 maritime features between Vietnam and the Philippines, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a Friday news release.
The Navy routinely sends warships to the Spratlys and the Paracel Islands, another contested chain in the South China Sea, on freedom-of-navigation operations to protest “unlawful” restrictions such as requirements for permission or advance notice of “innocent passage” through territorial waters.
“Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations,” 7th Fleet spokesman Lt. Luka Bakic said in the release.
China, Vietnam and Taiwan claim the entire Spratly chain, while the Philippines and Malaysia claim portions of it. Approximately 45 islands in the Spratlys are occupied by small military outposts operated by the five claimants, according to the CIA World Factbook website.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey carrioud out a freedom-of-navigation operation near four features of the contested Spratly island chain in the South China Sea, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. (Gregory Johnson/U.S. Navy)
The Dewey on Friday made an innocent passage within 12 nautical miles of four islands — Petley Reef, Sand Cay, Loaita Island and Itu Aba Island — as part of a “routine and peaceful exercise of rights and freedoms,” Bakic told Stars and Stripes by email Friday.
All four islands are occupied by outposts, according to the CIA World Factbook. Petley Reef and Sand Cay are occupied by Vietnam; Loaita is occupied by the Philippines; and Itu Aba is occupied by Taiwan.
All interactions between the Dewey and foreign vessels or aircraft were “consistent with international norms and did not impact the operation,” Bakic said without elaborating.
The freedom-of-navigation operation came just a day after the destroyer USS Rafael Peralta and Canadian frigate HMCS Ottawa made an overnight transit through the Taiwan Strait.
It also follows months of conflict between China and the Philippines over Second Thomas Shoal, a feature in the Spratly chain occupied by the Philippines.
Most recently, Chinese coast guard vessels on Oct. 22 collided with Filipino coast guard and supply vessels attempting to reach the outpost less than 150 nautical miles from Palawan, Philippines.
The incident prompted the U.S. to reissue a warning on Oct. 23 saying it would defend the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty if its forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack.
Friday’s operation, however, was not in response to recent events, Bakic said.
“Around the world, the U.S. conducts these operations on a regular basis in full compliance with international law,” he wrote in the email.
The Navy conducted a similar operation April 10, when the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius steamed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef, one of several features occupied by China in the Spratlys.
That transit came two days after Beijing launched a series of exercises around Taiwan to protest Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit with U.S. officials, including then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the previous week.
Bakic, at the time, told Stars and Stripes that the Milius’ operation near Mischief Reef was not a response to China’s exercises.
