Who is making waves in South China Sea?
By Hu Bo
The US Navy 7th Fleet released a piece of news on December 22 that its warship USS John S. McCain conducted a “freedom of navigation operation” near the Nansha islands and reefs that day. In response, a spokesperson for the PLA Southern Theater Command said, the US guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain trespassed into the waters adjacent to China’s Nansha islands and reefs without Chinese Government’s permission, and the naval and aerial forces of the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Commandwarned it off. Public reports show that this was the 9th time this year that an American military vessel trespassed into waters within 12 nautical miles of China-stationed Nansha islands and reefs and into Xisha territorial waters and inland waters.