The South China s4a region has again drawn political attention of the world as two aircraft carriers of the United States Navy undertook exercises in the region which has see attempts of domination by China, undermining interest and rights of other neighboring countries there. According to a report from the news agency Reuters quoting the commander of one of the carriers, the USS Nimitz, the US Navy aircraft carriers operated within sight of Chinese naval vessels that were spotted near the flotilla.
“They have seen us and we have seen them,” Rear Admiral James Kirk said in a telephone interview from the Nimitz. This US aircraft carrier has been undertaking flight drills in the contested and now disputed waterway, together with the Seventh Fleet carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. These exercises began on the U. Independence Day holiday of July 4.
In the past too, US aircraft carriers were sent to the region as a show of force and strength that the US administration. The exercise this year however dear greater significance because of the heightened tensions between the United States and China with Washington irked by the role of Beijing in the containment and management of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The US has accused China of taking advantage of the pandemic to push through its strategy of territorial expansion and claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere.
China has accused the United States of sending its aircraft carriers to the South China Sea deliberately to show its force and strength. Beijing also accused Washington of trying to drive a wedge between the various countries in the region.
While announcing the decision to send the two aircraft carriers to the region, the Pentagon had said that it wanted to “stand up for the right of all nations to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows”. It described the 100,000-ton ships of the US Navy and the 90 or so aircraft that each one of them carry as a “symbol of resolve”.
The combined carrier strike groups has a total of about 12,000 sailors are on ships.
About nine tenth of the South China Sea, which is rich in resources and through which goods laden ships worth about $3 trillion pass every year, is claimed as it territory by China. However other neighboring countries of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have also laid claims to this region while other countries have claimed it to be international waters with international maritime law prevailing there.
Despite building up artificial islands serving as military bases atop atolls in the region, China has claimed that it intends to use those manmade structures for peaceful purposes.
Kirk said there had been no incidents even though there was contact with Chinese ships.
“We have the expectation that we will always have interactions that are professional and safe,” he said. “We are operating in some pretty congested waters, lots of maritime traffic of all sorts.”
(Source:www.livemint.com)
“They have seen us and we have seen them,” Rear Admiral James Kirk said in a telephone interview from the Nimitz. This US aircraft carrier has been undertaking flight drills in the contested and now disputed waterway, together with the Seventh Fleet carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. These exercises began on the U. Independence Day holiday of July 4.
In the past too, US aircraft carriers were sent to the region as a show of force and strength that the US administration. The exercise this year however dear greater significance because of the heightened tensions between the United States and China with Washington irked by the role of Beijing in the containment and management of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The US has accused China of taking advantage of the pandemic to push through its strategy of territorial expansion and claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere.
China has accused the United States of sending its aircraft carriers to the South China Sea deliberately to show its force and strength. Beijing also accused Washington of trying to drive a wedge between the various countries in the region.
While announcing the decision to send the two aircraft carriers to the region, the Pentagon had said that it wanted to “stand up for the right of all nations to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows”. It described the 100,000-ton ships of the US Navy and the 90 or so aircraft that each one of them carry as a “symbol of resolve”.
The combined carrier strike groups has a total of about 12,000 sailors are on ships.
About nine tenth of the South China Sea, which is rich in resources and through which goods laden ships worth about $3 trillion pass every year, is claimed as it territory by China. However other neighboring countries of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have also laid claims to this region while other countries have claimed it to be international waters with international maritime law prevailing there.
Despite building up artificial islands serving as military bases atop atolls in the region, China has claimed that it intends to use those manmade structures for peaceful purposes.
Kirk said there had been no incidents even though there was contact with Chinese ships.
“We have the expectation that we will always have interactions that are professional and safe,” he said. “We are operating in some pretty congested waters, lots of maritime traffic of all sorts.”
(Source:www.livemint.com)