Pressure mounts on Beijing in the South China Sea – Asia Times

In the latest sign of continuity in US policy in Asia, the newly-inaugurated Biden administration is toughening its stance on Beijing s claims in the South China Sea.  

In its latest Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea, the Pentagon deployed the guided-missile destroyer USS Russell well into the 12 nautical mile zone around the Chinese-claimed islands in the Spratlys. 

Only weeks earlier, another US warship, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS John McCain, conducted a similar operation in the Paracel Islands, which is contested by China and Vietnam. The Biden administration also oversaw the Pentagon s first dual-carrier operation this year, featuring drills by the Nimitz and Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Groups in the area. 

The new US leadership s expanded naval deployments to the area have coincided with toughening diplomatic posturing. The US State Department lambasted Beijing s recently-passed controversial China Coast Guard Law, calling it a source of deep concern and likely part of the Asian superpower s broader effort to coercively assert its unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea.  

via asiatimes.com