by Ryan Pickrell
Not only is the Trump administration hitting China on trade, but it is also pushing Beijing in the disputed South China Sea.
A U.S. Navy destroyer challenged China’s vast claims to the South China Sea Friday, sailing within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands as part of a “freedom of navigation” operation (FONOP), according to Reuters, citing U.S. officials.
The latest operation is believed to be the sixth FONOP the U.S. Navy has conducted in the South China Sea since President Donald took office. Former President Barack Obama was hesitant to challenge China’s maritime claims, conducting only four FONOPs during his presidency.
The U.S. Navy challenged China’s claims to Mischief Reef last May, Triton Island in the Paracel Islands in July, Mischief Reef in August, Chinese-occupied territories in the Paracels in October, the Scarborough Shoal in January, and now Mischief Reef. The Air Force has also conducted heavy bomber flights over the disputed South China Sea.
The latest move is expected to rile Beijing, which is already furious over the trade penalties Trump announced Thursday in response to Chinese theft of American intellectual property.
After the Trump administration revealed that it intends to impose about $60 billion in new trade penalties on China, the first targeted trade measures aimed directly at Chinese “economic aggression.”
“China is not afraid of and will not recoil from a trade war. China is confident and capable of facing any challenge. If a trade war were initiated by the U.S., China would fight to the end to defend its own legitimate interests with all necessary measures,” the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. said in response.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org
This week, the Public Interest Legal Foundation filed two federal lawsuits in Minnesota and Wisconsin to end these states’…
Of the 7,309 aircraft in the U.S. commercial inventory, 3,173, or 43 percent, were manufactured…
Hennepin County Board candidate and current Minnesota Rep. Heather Edelson is co-sponsoring legislation that would…
President Joe Biden, a self-described Catholic, is polling worse with voters from his church than…