Bộ Trưởng Quốc Phòng Ash Carter vào tháng 9 có tuyên bố ‘Hoa Kỳ sẽ cho máy bay và tàu chiến hoạt động trong phạm vi luật công pháp quốc tế cho phép ở Biển Đông, giống như lực lượng Mỹ đã làm trên khắp thế giới từ lâu nay”.
Dư luận chờ đợi bước phát triển mới này trên biển đông. Photo courtesy: Reuters
Cali Today News – Hôm thứ năm 8/10 một viên chức Bộ Quốc Phòng Hoa Kỳ cho hay chính phủ Mỹ đang cân nhắc chuyện gửi tàu chiến đi tuần trong vùng biển mà Trung Quốc đã cho xây dựng kiên cố ở Biển Đông.
Hành động này là để chứng tỏ Hoa Kỳ không công nhận những rêu rao về chủ quyền lãnh thổ trong vùng của Trung Quốc. Báo Financial Times cho hay các chiến hạm Mỹ sẽ di chuyển trong vòng 12 hải lý quy định, trong vòng 2 tuần tới.
Nhưng báo Navy Times lại cho hay hành động như vậy có thể sẽ diễn ra chỉ trong vài ngày sắp đến và đang còn chờ lệnh sau cùng từ chính phủ Obama.
Một viên chức Quốc Phòng khác thì bác bỏ là đã có quyết định về chuyện này, nhưng nhắc lại ý kiến của Thứ Trưởng Bộ Quốc Phòng David Shear trước đây là ‘mọi khả năng có thể xảy ra’.
Bộ Trưởng Quốc Phòng Ash Carter vào tháng 9 có tuyên bố ‘Hoa Kỳ sẽ cho máy bay và tàu chiến hoạt động trong phạm vi luật công pháp quốc tế cho phép ở Biển Đông, giống như lực lượng Mỹ đã làm trên khắp thế giới từ lâu nay”.
Tòa Bạch Ốc từ chối bình luận về các hoạt động của Hải Quân, vốn đưọc xem là những hoạt động mật không tiết lộ trước dược. Phát ngôn nhân Hoa Xuân Ánh của Trung Quốc ngay lập tức lên tiếng cho hay TQ sẽ ‘theo dõi kỹ mọi diễn biến mới’.
Trân Vũ (Reuters)
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US Navy Ready to Sail Within 12 Nautical Miles of China's ...
US Navy Ready to Sail Within 12 Nautical Miles of China's Artificial Islands in the South China Sea
Two reports say the long-awaited freedom of navigation operations may commence in the next weeks or even days.
U.S. military officials are signaling that the navy is poised to send a ship within 12 nautical miles of China’s artificial islands. Both the Navy Times and the Financial Times reported that the operation was imminent, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
Financial Times’ source said that the freedom of navigation operations was expected to start within two weeks. Navy Times’ sources indicated that the operation “could take place within days but awaits final approval from the Obama administration.” The Navy officials said they believed that approval was coming soon.
Despite some genuine progress made in other areas during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. in late September, there was little consensus on the South China Sea issue. And since Xi returned to China, U.S. officials have only ramped up their rhetoric on the question of freedom of navigation in the disputed areas.
The commander of the U.S. Pacific fleet, Admiral Scott Swift recently denounced an “egregious” trend toward “superfluous warnings and restrictions on freedom of the seas,” particularly in disputed waters. “It’s my sense that some nations view freedom of the seas as up for grabs, as something that can be taken down and redefined by domestic law or by reinterpreting international law,” Swift said, speaking at a conference in Sydney. He pledged that the U.S. “will continue to exercise freedom of the seas for all nations.”
U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Ash Carter, have repeatedly stated that the U.S. will operate military vessels and aircraft where international law allows, but Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia-Pacific Security David Shear recently told a Senate hearing that there haven’t been any operations within 12 nautical miles of a reclaimed feature since 2012. Analysts (such as Sean P. Henseler, writing for The Diplomat) as well as members of Congress have urged the Obama administration to conduct such an operation – and it seems that pressure is having an effect.
However, the latest reports do not answer a key question: which of the Chinese-controlled features will the U.S. Navy seek to approach? As I explained in a previous article, the legal rationale for a freedom of navigation operation within 12 nautical miles of an artificial feature only applies to some – not all – of China’s artificial islands. Any feature that qualified as a rock prior to China’s land reclamation and construction would be entitled to a territorial sea under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The U.S. would still enjoy the right of innocent passage within a territorial sea, but the point of this particular operation seems to be to prove that building an island on a low-tide elevation does not grant the LTE any territorial waters under UNCLOS. In that case, it matters greatly which feature the U.S. chooses to approach – and whether or not China shares the same understanding about the status of the feature prior to the island-building.
Back in September, when asked about potential U.S. patrols near China’s artificial islands, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said that China was “seriously concerned.” Hong explained: “China, like the U.S., champions navigation freedom in the South China Sea, but opposes any country’s attempt to challenge China’s territorial sovereignty and security under the pretext of safeguarding navigation freedom.”
http://thediplomat.com/2015/
Financial Times’ source said that the freedom of navigation operations was expected to start within two weeks. Navy Times’ sources indicated that the operation “could take place within days but awaits final approval from the Obama administration.” The Navy officials said they believed that approval was coming soon.
Despite some genuine progress made in other areas during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. in late September, there was little consensus on the South China Sea issue. And since Xi returned to China, U.S. officials have only ramped up their rhetoric on the question of freedom of navigation in the disputed areas.
The commander of the U.S. Pacific fleet, Admiral Scott Swift recently denounced an “egregious” trend toward “superfluous warnings and restrictions on freedom of the seas,” particularly in disputed waters. “It’s my sense that some nations view freedom of the seas as up for grabs, as something that can be taken down and redefined by domestic law or by reinterpreting international law,” Swift said, speaking at a conference in Sydney. He pledged that the U.S. “will continue to exercise freedom of the seas for all nations.”
U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Ash Carter, have repeatedly stated that the U.S. will operate military vessels and aircraft where international law allows, but Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia-Pacific Security David Shear recently told a Senate hearing that there haven’t been any operations within 12 nautical miles of a reclaimed feature since 2012. Analysts (such as Sean P. Henseler, writing for The Diplomat) as well as members of Congress have urged the Obama administration to conduct such an operation – and it seems that pressure is having an effect.
However, the latest reports do not answer a key question: which of the Chinese-controlled features will the U.S. Navy seek to approach? As I explained in a previous article, the legal rationale for a freedom of navigation operation within 12 nautical miles of an artificial feature only applies to some – not all – of China’s artificial islands. Any feature that qualified as a rock prior to China’s land reclamation and construction would be entitled to a territorial sea under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The U.S. would still enjoy the right of innocent passage within a territorial sea, but the point of this particular operation seems to be to prove that building an island on a low-tide elevation does not grant the LTE any territorial waters under UNCLOS. In that case, it matters greatly which feature the U.S. chooses to approach – and whether or not China shares the same understanding about the status of the feature prior to the island-building.
Back in September, when asked about potential U.S. patrols near China’s artificial islands, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said that China was “seriously concerned.” Hong explained: “China, like the U.S., champions navigation freedom in the South China Sea, but opposes any country’s attempt to challenge China’s territorial sovereignty and security under the pretext of safeguarding navigation freedom.”
http://thediplomat.com/2015/
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