This article looked at the officials of the United States and China discussing a ship passage in an area called “China Islets”. The ships of the United States will continue to “regularly” cross the twelfth nautical mile islands built by China in the South China Sea. Protests in Beijing happened, because of the USS Lassen’s passage near one of these islands. A spokesman named Josh Earnest said that the United States “would reserve the right to carry out those kinds of operations in the future”. A video call happened between Navy Adm. John Richardson and his Chinese counterpart Navy Commander Adm. Wu Shengli, which was set up by China’s request. It triggered the US’s decision to have guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sail within these newly created islands. The United States does not recognize these man-made islands as sovereign territories. Wu was stated to have a concern and disagreement over the movement of USS Lassen. Richardson responded by stating that sailing by the islands shouldn’t be seen as provocative. Richardson also told Wu that the United States would continue to sail wherever the international law allows them to sail. This was a very calm and productive conversation. Although Richardson and Wu disagreed about the international passage issue, they both agreed on this issue shouldn’t affect the other naval cooperation …show more content…
However, a Defense Ministry spokesman said that China’s military would take all necessary measures to any future US Navy incursions. One person in the article believes that China or any country shouldn’t be using their size or influence to try to resolve sovereignty claims in the South China Sea. The person also believed that the recent US military operation was not to challenge China on sovereignty claims. While China wants to claim virtually all of the entire South China Sea and its islands, the US believes in the freedom of