What’s at stake as U.S. weighs South China Sea patrol

From the USA Today (Oct 17): What’s at stake as U.S. weighs South China Sea patrol

It may be the rainy season, but things are heating up in the South China Sea.

The U.S. and China have been locked in a battle of words since reports surfaced this month that the Navy was ready to challenge China's territorial claims in the South China Sea by sending a ship within 12 nautical miles of the fake Chinese islands built on top of reefs in the Spratly Islands.

The dispute has gotten so heated that it's forced the United States into a difficult position: balancing the interests of allies in the region, such as the Philippines, with respect for China's legitimate claims and to avoid fraying ties to the fast-growing regional power.

What you need to know:

• The conflict. Six nations in the region lay claim to parts or all of the Spratly Islands, a collection of reefs, rocks and other natural features. In the last two years, China has begun constructing islands on top of the reefs and claiming territorial seas around them to gain fishing and resource rights to most of the South China Sea.

These disputes have led to violence in the past. In 1974, a conflict between South Vietnam and China led to a shootout in the Paracel Islands, located between Vietnam and China's Hainan Island. That dispute continues.

• Freedom of navigation. The U.S. Navy has seen itself as the main cop on the beat in the South China Sea since the end of World War II, upholding freedom of the seas and the free flow of trade in the region.

Navy leaders say the primary principle to uphold is freedom of navigation. It's the core principle behind the 1981 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a treaty that China has signed and that the United States abides by, but hasn't signed (despite years of calls from Coast Guard and Navy leaders).

• 12-mile limit. If the islands are considered real, China would have the right to claim a 12-mile territorial sea around them. U.S. officials have said the Spratly Islands are international waters, and that they will steam or fly or operate wherever the law allows.

Even if the islands were legitimate Chinese territory, the Navy could still pass through the limit under the right of innocent passage — it just couldn't shoot off guns or do anything provocative.

"I think that we have to continue to proceed in accordance with international norms," Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations, told reporters Oct. 15. "(This is) part of routine navigation in international waters, consistent with international rules there: I don't see how these could be interpreted as provocative in any way."

• Timeframe. Pentagon officials have said that the patrol could happen at any time, with the White House's go-ahead. If it happens soon, it would likely be carried out by the destroyer USS Lassen, which is steaming in the South China Sea. The littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth is also in the region, but a source with knowledge of the planning said it will likely not be carried out by an LCS.

• Setting a precedent. If the Navy or other partners act in a manner consistent with recognizing that China is the rightful owner of the reefs in the Spratly Islands, it lends legitimacy to China's claims. The fact that the U.S. hasn't gone near China's new islands since they have been built buttresses China's claims.

"We need to remind ourselves that U.S. Navy ... has been conducting freedom of navigation operations since Jimmy Carter was in office," said Craig Allen, a professor of marine and environmental affairs at the University of Washington School of Law. "If you simply acquiesce to somebody else's claims, you could lose your rights."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/10/17/stake-us-weighs-south-china-sea-patrol/74147190/