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The US Navy USA He confirmed on Tuesday that two US warships are operating in the South China Sea, and three regional security sources said they were near a clash area between China and Malaysia.
The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a Chinese government research ship, was spotted last week conducting a survey near an exploration ship operated by Malaysia’s state-owned oil company, Petronas, months after it undertook a similar patrol in Vietnam.
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The incident prompted the United States to ask China to stop its “intimidating behavior” in the disputed waters, citing concern over Beijing’s provocative actions toward offshore oil and gas developments there.
The US State Department said China was taking advantage of the region’s focus on the coronavirus pandemic to “compel its neighbors.”
The amphibious assault ship USS America and USS Bunker Hill, a guided-missile cruiser, were deployed and operated in the South China Sea, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command spokeswoman Nicole Schwegman said Tuesday.
“Through our continued operational presence in the South China Sea, we are working … to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and the international principles that underpin security and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific,” said Schwegman in a statement emailed to Reuters.
“The United States supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests.”
Rear Admiral Fred Kacher, commander of the USS America Expeditionary Strike Group, told Reuters that his forces had interacted with Chinese naval forces in the South China Sea this week.
“All of our interactions remain safe and professional with them,” Kacher said in a telephone interview from USS America.
China’s ‘illegal claim’
Schwegman did not indicate the exact location of the warships, but security sources said they were close to the Haiyang Dizhi 8 and the Petronas-operated West Capella drilling vessel. The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The area is close to the waters claimed by both Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as China, through its broad claim to most of the South China Sea within its U-shaped ‘nine stroke line’, that it is not recognized by its neighbors and has been declared illegal by an international court.
China has denied reports of a clash, saying that the Haiyang Dizhi 8 was carrying out normal activities.
“The ‘confrontation’ at sea you mentioned did not happen,” the Foreign Ministry said in a fax response to questions from Reuters on Monday.
Petronas and the Malaysian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The movements of the Chinese research ship this month come as Beijing increases coronavirus diplomacy, donating large supplies of medical equipment and helping Southeast Asian countries.
A team of Chinese medical experts arrived this week in Malaysia, which reported more than 5,400 cases of coronavirus.
On Sunday, Vietnam protested after China said it had established two administrative districts on the Paracel and Spratly islands in the disputed waters.
The two districts have reportedly been brought under the control of the Chinese city of Sansha.
Beijing also established two research stations on its artificial islands in the Fiery Cross and Subi reefs, which are claimed by the Philippines. It also established a “mental health center” at Mischief Reef, which has been declared by the international court in The Hague to be within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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