Biden's message to Beijing: Don't expect U.S. to ease up over South China Sea and Taiwan

U.S. President Joe Biden has a message for China: Don’t expect any easing up of military operations in the South China Sea or Taiwan Strait.

That appears to be the word coming out of Washington after the U.S. Navy conducted its first “freedom of navigation operation” (FONOP) in the disputed South China Sea on Friday and, a day earlier, its first transit of the Taiwan Strait.

During Friday’s operation, the USS John S. McCain destroyer “asserted navigational rights and freedoms” near the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, while also “challenging China’s claim to straight baselines” that enclose the Paracels and effectively expand its claimed territorial waters.