On Friday, the U.S. Navy officially announced another episode of its planned “freedom of navigation” series in the South China Sea, shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a nuclear summit in Washington.
On Friday, the U.S. Navy officially announced another episode of its planned “freedom of navigation” series in the South China Sea, shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a nuclear summit in Washington.
In a show of counterforce, the U.S. has sailed an aircraft carrier, two destroyers, two cruisers, and the command ship of the Japan-based 7th Fleet into the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
In an appearance on Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command stated: “I believe China seeks hegemony in East Asia.”
Tuesday’s voyage of the destroyer USS Lassen through waters claimed by China in the South China Sea had the potential to escalate an already tense situation.