The United States is considering deploying ships and planes to pass by China’s man-made islands in the South China Sea after China sent a fleet of ships through the Bering Strait off the coast of Alaska. According to a Tokyo-based magazine Nikkei Asian Review.

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The US noted simply that it had observed the passage of the China’s  PLA ships through US territorial waters well within 12 nautical miles of the Aleutian islands and they were proceeding expeditiously and in line with international practice, thus the passage was legal and no cause for alarm.

But if US ships are to conduct a similar maneuver close to disputed territory claimed by China, however, the response is unlikely to be as calm and measured.

There is also  report stated that Washington is considering sanctions against China for alleged cyber attacks.

The US Department of Defense announced on Sept. 4 that five Chinese ships had entered the Bering Strait and passed close by the Aleutian islands, passing into US maritime territory.

The report expressed that President Barack Obama was visiting Alaska that time, which suggests that China sending a message to the US ahead of the forthcoming state visit of President Xi Jinping.

US Department of Defense said that ships may pass within 12 nautical miles of the coast of other countries, as long as they don’t take any military action and Duowei News reported that China had respected this principle.

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The quiet reaction of the US government may originate from a yearning not to see strains lifted in front of Xi’s visit or perhaps as an after effect of inside legislative issues.

Duowei said, since Republican presidential competitors have started  and begun ramping up attacks on China, remarkably leader Donald Trump. A few political candidates have required the White House to disavow Xi’s status as a state visitor for the up and coming visit.

The Duowei article stated that the US had broken with convention in immediately reporting the incursion of the Chinese ships, suggesting that they were trying to make use of the incident for their own gain. This smacks of Duowei struggling to find a spin to put on the low-key handling of the non-incident.

US head of maritime operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert was cited by Reuters in a meeting on Sept. 3 as expressing, “They as of now had one of their icebreakers up around there, and they weren’t that far away with an activity and they’ve officially begun their return transit.” Greenert was alluding to the joint activities with the Russian naval force that the PLA ships had concluded prior to the passage.

Mark Toner, a representative for the US State Department, was cited in the same article as expressing, “This is absolutely the first occasion when we have watched Chinese naval force ships in the Bering Sea, however that said, we do unquestionably regard the flexibility of all countries to work military vessels in worldwide waters as per international law.”

China on the other hand may be expected to respond with histrionics in response to a perceived incursion, with commands to leave the area, buzzing with aircraft and blocking maneuvers from surface vessels threatening a collision some of the tactics observed in the past.

By: Kevin N.

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1 COMMENT

  1. The yanks are all talk and no action. LOL Today, the pentagon admitted to McCain that they have not enter into the 12 nm of China’s claimed islands for the past 3 years, or since the inception of the 9 dash line.
    So it looks like you and the viets are all out of luck, for even your ringleader is afraid of entering those waters. LOL

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