An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : Media : News : News Article View
NEWS | March 28, 2023

7th Fleet Destroyer conducts Freedom of Navigation Operation in South China Sea

U.S. 7th Fleet Public Affairs

PARACEL ISLANDS, South China Sea – On March 24 (local time) Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law. At the conclusion of the operation, Milius exited the excessive claim and continued operations in the South China Sea. This freedom of navigation operation (“FONOP”) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging the restrictions on innocent passage imposed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, and Vietnam and also by challenging PRC’s claim to straight baselines enclosing the Paracel Islands.

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.

The United States challenges excessive maritime claims around the world regardless of the identity of the claimant. The customary international law of the sea as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention provides for certain rights and freedoms and other lawful uses of the sea to all nations. The international community has an enduring role in preserving the freedom of the seas, which is critical to global security, stability, and prosperity.

The United States upholds freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle. As long as some countries continue to claim and assert limits on rights that exceed their authority under international law, the United States will continue to defend the rights and freedoms of the sea guaranteed to all. No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms.

The PRC, Taiwan, and Vietnam each claim sovereignty over the Paracel Islands. In violation of customary international law, all three claimants require either permission or advance notification before a military vessel or warship engages in “innocent passage” through the territorial sea. Under customary international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention, the ships of all States –including their warships –enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. The unilateral imposition of any authorization or advance-notification requirement for innocent passage is unlawful. By engaging in innocent passage without giving prior notification to or asking permission from any of the claimants, the United States challenged these unlawful restrictions imposed by the PRC, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The United States demonstrated that innocent passage is not be subject to such restrictions.

The United States also challenged the PRC’s 1996 declaration of straight baselines encompassing the Paracel Islands. Regardless of which claimant has sovereignty over these islands, it is unlawful to draw straight baselines around the Paracel Islands in their entirety. Customary international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention is both clear and comprehensive regarding the circumstances under which States can depart from “normal” baselines. The PRC-claimed straight baseline violates international law of the sea as reflected in Article 7 of the Law of the Sea Convention. Furthermore, international law does not permit continental States, like the PRC, to establish baselines around entire dispersed island groups. With these baselines, the PRC has attempted to claim more internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf than it is entitled to under international law. By conducting this operation, the United States demonstrated that these waters are beyond what the PRC can lawfully claim as its territorial sea, and that the PRC claimed straight baselines around the Paracel Islands are inconsistent with international law.

U.S. forces operate in the South China Sea on a daily basis, as they have for more than a century. They routinely operate in close coordination with like-minded Allies and partners that share our commitment to uphold a free and open international order that promotes security and prosperity. All of our operations are conducted safely, professionally, and in accordance with customary international law. The operations demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows –regardless of the location of excessive maritime claims and regardless of current events.

CONNECT WITH USINDOPACOM
Facebook

Like Us
Twitter
342,728
Follow Us

ENGAGE & CONNECT MORE WITH PACOM

                                                 

IN THE USINDOPACOM NEWS
Andersen AFB Updates on Services post Typhoon Mawar
Satellite image of Typhoon Mawar taken May 25, 2023.  Image courtesy 325th Operational Support Squadron, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
May 31, 2023 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Members of Team Andersen continue to prevail in the wake of Typhoon Mawar and persevere through the lack of services across the island; meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Paul Fast, 36th Wing commander,...

Decorated American Officer’s Last Remains to Head Home After 58 Years
Major General Harry Kleinbeck Pickett, Decorated American Officer’s Last Remains to Head Home After 58 Years.  Courtesy photo
May 31, 2023 - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India -- The last remains of one of America’s most decorated officers, Major General Harry Kleinbeck Pickett, who fought in both World War I and World War II, is being returned home to the United...

Friendship Jump 2023
Japan Ground Self-Defense paratroopers with the 1st Airborne Brigade carry his parachute during the Japanese-American Friendship Festival 2023 at Yokota Air Base, Japan, May 21, 2023. Paratroopers from the U.S. Army 1st SFG (Airborne), USAF 320th Special Tactics Squadron, and JGSDF 1st Airborne Brigade conducted static-line jump demonstrations to show their capabilities during the festival. During the two-day festival, 193,000 attendees came to Yokota to experience the event. The festival is aimed at increasing bilateral relationships between U.S. and Japanese communities and allows people to see U.S. and Japanese military capabilities first-hand. (U.S. Air Force photo by Yasuo Osakabe)
May 31, 2023 - YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, Japan -- The annual Yokota Friendship Festival Joint Capabilities Demonstration draws in many festival-goers to view airborne demonstrations, with the 36th Airlift Squadron using their C-130J Super...

U.S. Philippines, Japan, Coast Guards Conduct Joint Maritime Law Enforcement Training
More than 30 participants from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam joined the Multinational Vessel Boarding Officer Course funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.  Courtesy photo
May 31, 2023 - MANILA, Philippines -- From May 15 to 26, coast guard instructors from the United States, the Philippines, and Japan jointly led a Multinational Vessel Boarding Officer Course in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan that...

USINDOPACOM Statement on DPRK Launch
May 30, 2023 - CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii -- “We are aware of the DPRK’s launch using ballistic missile technology, which, is a brazen violation of multiple unanimous UN Security Council resolutions, raises tensions, and risks destabilizing...