The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem (Photo via Reuters, File) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem (Photo via Reuters, File)A U.S. warship sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam on Sunday in an operation meant to challenge the competing claims of all three nations, a U.S. Defense Department official said. The USS Stethem, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, part of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the official said. It was the second “freedom-of-navigation operation,” or “fonop,” conducted during the presidency of Donald Trump, following a drill in late May in which a U.S. warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea. “Unlike in the Spratlys, where China has created new artificial territory in the last several years, it has effectively controlled the Paracels since 1974,” said Mira Rapp-Hooper, a South China Sea expert at the Center for a New American Security. China deems Taiwan its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

Source: Indian Express July 03, 2017 01:56 UTC