Trouble in the South China Sea.
For this blog post, I am using two articles, both from The Washington Post, because the second article helps give context for the first article.
1st Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinese-warship-nearly-hits-us-destroyer-in-south-china-sea/2018/10/02/877cc788-c5fb-11e8-9158-09630a6d8725_story.html?utm_term=.fe60eeab0aa7
2nd Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/07/13/why-does-china-care-so-much-about-the-south-china-sea-here-are-5-reasons/?utm_term=.de4eff56b5ac
(1st) Today, October 2nd, 2018, China accused the United States of violating its sovereignty after one of our navy vessels sailed next to some highly disputed islands(Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea over the weekend. The USS Decatur was completing a freedom of navigation mission; an act to promote lawfulness in oceanic territory in which multiple countries hold claim to the land. Having been extremely angered by this, one of China's Luyang-Class Destroyers was ordered to force the Decatur away from the islands. While encounters in the SCS have happened before, this one almost resulted in a collision. The Decatur heeded the warning and began to retreat, but the Chinese Destroyer came within 45 yards of the Decatur's bow. This act shows just how reckless the Chinese vessel behaved.
(2nd) We hear about disputes in the South China Sea very often in the news. So why does China fight other countries tooth & nail about it? This second article lists five reasons why, but in relation to what happened recently, one of those reasons helps to explain the behavior. According to the article, there are no historical treaties that allocate the sovereignty of islands. Strangely enough, China has never been feisty with land borders. In the 1800's, the leaders of the Qing Dynasty formed treaties that would later form the outline of China's borders in 1949. The limitations of these treaties were absent at sea.
1st Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinese-warship-nearly-hits-us-destroyer-in-south-china-sea/2018/10/02/877cc788-c5fb-11e8-9158-09630a6d8725_story.html?utm_term=.fe60eeab0aa7
2nd Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/07/13/why-does-china-care-so-much-about-the-south-china-sea-here-are-5-reasons/?utm_term=.de4eff56b5ac
(1st) Today, October 2nd, 2018, China accused the United States of violating its sovereignty after one of our navy vessels sailed next to some highly disputed islands(Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea over the weekend. The USS Decatur was completing a freedom of navigation mission; an act to promote lawfulness in oceanic territory in which multiple countries hold claim to the land. Having been extremely angered by this, one of China's Luyang-Class Destroyers was ordered to force the Decatur away from the islands. While encounters in the SCS have happened before, this one almost resulted in a collision. The Decatur heeded the warning and began to retreat, but the Chinese Destroyer came within 45 yards of the Decatur's bow. This act shows just how reckless the Chinese vessel behaved.
(2nd) We hear about disputes in the South China Sea very often in the news. So why does China fight other countries tooth & nail about it? This second article lists five reasons why, but in relation to what happened recently, one of those reasons helps to explain the behavior. According to the article, there are no historical treaties that allocate the sovereignty of islands. Strangely enough, China has never been feisty with land borders. In the 1800's, the leaders of the Qing Dynasty formed treaties that would later form the outline of China's borders in 1949. The limitations of these treaties were absent at sea.
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