(Washington, D.C.) The Navy’s USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is steaming its way into the South China Sea area as part of a longstanding, visible U.S. Navy effort to demonstrate that the U.S. and its allies will continue to operate and sail freely wherever international law allows.
U.S. Navy Freedom of Navigation Operations
This key message has for many years formed the basis for why the Pentagon and U.S. Navy conduct Freedom of Navigation Operations, or FONOPs, designed in large measure to remind China that the U.S. and its allies do not support China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Through the use of phony island building, called “land reclamation” years ago, the Chinese have sought to fortify or reinforce territorial claims in the Spratly Island Chain in the South China Sea, areas long claimed by a range of different Southeast Asian countries to include Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and others.
China’s assertive claims continue, and the country has continued to militarize the region, building runways and basing air and land war assets near disputed territories.
Thus, FONOPs continue. The U.N. Law of the Sea Convention, which the U.S. has not signed but still abides by, stipulates that 12 miles off the coast of a given sovereign territory amounts to an extension of that country’s land.
Therefore, FONOPs have over the years sailed destroyers and other surface assets within a 12 mile boundary of areas claimed by China, as part of a specific effort to demonstrate that the U.S. and its allies in the region do not consider China’s claims to be legitimate or lawful.
“The South China Sea is pivotal to the free flow of commerce that fuels the economies of those nations committed to international law and rules based order,” said Rear Adm. Will Pennington, commander, Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, said in a Navy report. “It is both a privilege and a pleasure to work alongside our allies, partners, and joint service teammates to provide full spectrum support to key maritime commons and ensure all nations continue to benefit from a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
