Sen. John McCain praised the Navy’s decision to sail a warship near a disputed island in the South China Sea last week, saying that he hopes missions like this become more routine.
“I am encouraged to hear that the U.S. Navy has conducted a freedom-of-navigation operation near Triton Island in the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. This operation challenged excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights and freedoms of the United States and other nations under international law,” the Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said in a statement over the weekend.
The U.S. destroyer Curtis Wilbur passed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island on Saturday morning local time, challenging China’s, Taiwan’s and Vietnam’s claims in the area, said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The operation challenged the countries’ claims that other nations couldn’t pass through without notice or permission, not their claims to sovereignty.
“This operation demonstrated, as the president and secretary have stated, that we will fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows. That is true in the South China Sea, as in other places around the globe,” Davis said in a statement.
Late last year, a U.S. ship conducted a similar operation near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
McCain said he hopes missions like this become more regular.
“I continue to hope these operations will become so routine that China and other claimants will come to accept them as normal occurrences and releasing press statements to praise them will no longer be necessary,” he said.
