US sends warship near Hoang Sa archipelago

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US President Joe Biden said the US must protect sea lanes in the Arctic and South China Sea. (Photo: Vietnamnet)

Biden: US must defend open and safe South China Sea

President Joe Biden says the US must defend open and safe sea lanes in the Arctic and South China Sea as nations, notably China seeks to assert greater control over the maritime regions. He speaks at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in his first commencement address as president.

“It’s of vital interest to America’s foreign policy to secure unimpeded flow of global commerce,” Biden said at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in his first commencement address as president. “And it won’t happen without us taking an active role to set the norms of conduct, to shape them around democratic values, not those of autocrats”, cited Bloomberg.

The US has criticized China for expanding its military presence in the South China Sea. Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week attended the Arctic Council meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, to discuss the developments.

US sends warship near Hoang Sa archipelago

The destroyer USS Wilbur patrols the South China Sea. (Photo: Reuters)

A United States Navy warship sailed near islands in the South China Sea on Thursday, just hours after US President Joe Biden said the US must protect open access to the waterway.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur performed what the US Navy calls a "freedom of navigation" operation near Hoang Sa Islands, asserting "navigational rights and freedoms consistent with international law," Lt. j.g. Nicholas Lingo, spokesperson for the US 7th Fleet, said in a statement.

A spokesman for China's Eastern Theatre Command expressed strong opposition, citing that U.S. actions sent the wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces

But Biden, in a speech at the US Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, accused China of "disruptive actions" challenging decades-old international rules protecting maritime commerce in the South China Sea and other waterways.

The Paracels has become a hotspot in US-China relations. It was the fifth time this year a US warship had transited the Taiwan Strait as the Biden administration strengthens ties with the island.

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