United States/China/South China Sea: US Moves Highlight South China Sea Conflict

Feb 1, 2016 | Brooks Boliek, Radio Free Asia
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In a sign that the United States isn’t going to let China’s ambition to dominate the South China Sea go unchecked, Washington sent the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur on a patrol through the disputed area this past weekend, drawing anger from Beijing but tacit understanding from Hanoi. The Curtis Wilbur passed within 12 miles of Triton Island on Friday in what the Pentagon called a “freedom of navigation” exercise. Triton Island is administered by China, which seized administrative control of the island from the then-government of South Vietnam in 1974 following a two-day naval engagement known as the Battle of the Paracel Islands.