Navy destroyer sails near key man-made island in South China Sea

The U.S. Navy sailed a destroyer ship in the South China Sea near the contested Spratly Islands on Monday, angering Chinese officials who claim the archipelago as its own after constructing man-made islands.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius crossed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef — which includes a large man-made island controlled by China – in what the U.S. 7th Fleet called a lawful, freedom of navigation operation.

“Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas,” a release from the American naval fleet reads. “The United States challenges excessive maritime claims around the world regardless of the identity of the claimant.”

Mischief Reef is part of Beijing’s extensive development of artificial islands in the South China Sea, which Beijing has turned into military bases. It has historically been under the administration of the Philippines province of Palawan.

The People’s Liberation Army, the official name for China’s military, said the U.S. naval ship entered its territorial waters illegally, according to Reuters, reiterating its claims of sovereignty over islands in the South China Sea.

Besides Mischief Reef, at least two other Chinese man-made bases are fully militarized on the Spratly Islands archipelago: Subi Reef and Fiery Cross.

The Spratly Islands are disputed between several countries, with China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all staking claim to parts of the archipelago.

The U.S. on Monday said “features like Mischief Reef that are submerged at high tide in their naturally formed state are not entitled to a territorial sea.”

“The land reclamation efforts, installations, and structures built on Mischief Reef do not change this characterization under international law,” the 7th Fleet said in Monday’s release.

U.S. operations around the Spratly Islands comes as China is concluding a three-day spate of military drills in the sea and air around Taiwan.

China ordered the drills after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in California last week.