The U.S. Navy sailed a warship near a Chinese-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday for the first time since Beijing began implementing a law requiring foreign vessels to give notice before entering waters it claims.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold “engaged in ‘normal operations’ within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef” in the Spratly chain of the strategic waterway, the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement.
The “freedom of navigation operation” (FONOP) near the islet, which is also claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines, was the fourth known operation conducted by the U.S. under the administration of President Joe Biden.