WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators pressed the Pentagon on Thursday to flex U.S. military muscle by sailing Navy ships within 12 miles of artificial islands Beijing is building to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. needs to go within the 12-mile limit to make it clear that the U.S. does not recognize China's claim that the islands are its territory.
"This is a dangerous mistake that grants de facto recognition of China's man-made sovereignty claims," McCain said at a committee hearing held ahead of the Chinese president's visit to the U.S. on Sept. 25.
While not violating international law, McCain said China sent its own naval vessels within 12 nautical miles of the Aleutian Islands as President Barack Obama concluded his recent visit to Alaska. The U.S. should assert its right of navigation "just as forcefully," McCain said.
U.S. ships haven't sailed within the 12-mile boundary since 2012, said David Shear, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs. Adm. Harry Harris, Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said the U.S. also has not conducted a direct fly-over of any of the lands and territories that China recently has reclaimed.
