BEIJING: Chinese forces followed and warned away a US warship which entered waters near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the country’s military said on Thursday, in the latest uptick in tensions in the disputed waterway.
The Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said the USS Benfold “illegally” sailed into Chinese territorial waters without permission, violating the country’s sovereignty, and that Chinese naval and air forces tracked the ship.
“We solemnly demand that the US side immediately stop such provocative actions, otherwise it will bear the serious consequences of unforeseen events,” it added.
The US Navy said the Benfold “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Island, consistent with international law.”
“At the conclusion of the operation, USS Benfold exited the excessive claim and continued operations in the South China Sea,” 7th Fleet spokesman Mark Langford said.
The United States frequently carries out what it calls freedom of navigation missions in the South China Sea to challenge Chinese territorial claims.
China has established military outposts on artificial islands in the waters, which are crossed by vital shipping lanes and also contain gas fields and rich fishing grounds.
The South China Sea has become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship between China and the United States, with Washington rejecting what it calls unlawful territorial claims by Beijing.
China claims vast swaths of the South China Sea. Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines all have overlapping claims.
Beijing says it warned away US warship in South China Sea
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Beijing says it warned away US warship in South China Sea
- China: USS Benfold ‘illegally’ sailed into Chinese territorial waters without permission
- South China Sea one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship between China and the US
Cooper says Ethiopia visit to focus on migration
- We are working together to tackle the economic drivers of illegal migration and the criminal gangs who operate globally, profiting from trading in people
LONDON: Britain’s foreign secretary said she would use a visit to Ethiopia to focus on measures to stem the rising number of migrants from the Horn of Africa seeking to reach the UK.
Yvette Cooper said job creation partnerships would dissuade people from leaving Ethiopia, while stronger law enforcement cooperation was essential to counter smuggler gangs and speed up returns of migrants with no right to stay in Britain.
“We are working together to tackle the economic drivers of illegal migration and the criminal gangs who operate globally, profiting from trading in people,” Cooper said in a statement.
“That includes new partnerships to improve trade and create thousands of good jobs in Ethiopia so people can find a better life back home instead of making perilous journeys.”
Successive British governments have sought to address illegal immigration, an issue that has helped propel the populist campaigner Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party into a commanding lead in opinion polls.
Approximately 30 percent of people crossing the English Channel in small boats over the past two years were nationals from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan, the British Foreign Ministry said.
To boost job creation in Ethiopia, Cooper is set to sign an agreement with the country to advance two energy transmission projects led by Gridworks, a UK investment organization.
She planned to announce £17 million worth of funding for tackling violence against women and girls, assistance for 68,000 children suffering malnutrition, and for projects working with displaced people.
Meanwhile, Tigrayans in northern Ethiopia fear a return to all-out war amid reports that clashes were continuing between local and federal forces on Monday, barely three years after the last devastating conflict in the region.
The civil war of 2020-2022 between the Ethiopian government and Tigray forces killed more than 600,000 people and a peace deal known as the Pretoria Agreement has never fully resolved the tensions.
Fighting broke out again last week in a disputed area of western Tigray called Tselemt and the Afar region to the east of Tigray.
