One Tuesday the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS William P. Lawrence executed a freedom of navigation drill near Yongshu Reef in China's Nansha Islands. In-order to understand the haziness of US's definition of "Freedom of Navigation." One needs to know what an Arleigh Burke class destroyer is and what its capabilities are? Before one can deem it as a friendly or a foe. Though the term "destroyer" should suffice in drawing the distinction for any layman but just to clarify things lets teak a peak under the hood of this type of a destryer and understand its capabilities

The Arleigh Burke class of destroyers to which the USS William P. Lawrence belongs to, is the United States Navy's first class of destroyers. The class is named after Admiral Arleigh Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of World War II. The Arleigh Burke-class is one of the biggest destroyers built in the United States. The Arleigh Burke class comprises of multi-mission ships which are equipped to carry out numerous roles at sea. According to military.com they are equipped with guided missile technology multi-mission Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUW) surface combatants. They are housed with powerful Aegis radar to support surface-to-air missiles. They have their own towed sonar array with anti-submarine rockets. They are endowed with their Harpoon missile launchers and most importantly Tomahawk missiles. They are even furnished with technology supporting the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System; this class of destroyers has now become a platform for mobile anti-ballistic missile and anti-satellite weaponry.

After the arrival of USS William P. Lawrence at the gates of Chinese territory the obvious response from the Chinese was to scramble its military assets. Though nothing happened afterwards but some western media outlets are trying portray a negative image of China over this incident, which in reality should be the other way around. Imagine if someone comes unannounced and parked his heavily loaded tank in your driveway and said that "I come in peace and in the name of freedom of navigation", in which alternate reality or universe, would this scenario pan out as a peaceful gesture?

USS William P. Lawrence's so-called freedom of navigation operation near Yongshu Reef in China's Nansha Islands, can only be dubbed as an act of causing frictions with in international relations as no international law prescribes; military vessels, the freedom of navigation through another country's territorial waters. Had this been any other commercial or other peaceful vessel there had been no cause for concern for anyone. It has been made crystal clear time and again, by the Chinese government and its officials that a resolution to the dispute in South China Sea can only be achieved through dialog and not through force and foreign interventions as such tactics only harm the process of peaceful dispute resolution and raise tensions within the region.

It is sad that this only happens in the world of yellow journalism that tables are turned on the culprit and the victim. The western media seems to have gotten in to habit of viewing the world with tainted lenses and this is the reason why many western media outlets fail to acknowledge the fact that China's artificial Islands and reefs are built "in line with the self-preservation and self-defense rights of every sovereign country" to which every country is "entitled to under the international law" the purpose of these islands is to provide public goods, and these public goods comprise of Chinese built lighthouses, weather observation and forecast stations, and fishing boats shelter and rescue facilities. Such activities are certainly public goods not just for Chinese vessels but for all those navigating the South China Sea. Apart from these services there are also assets in place to safeguard Chinese sovereignty and there is no threat to any commercial or peaceful vessel.

When the US talks about "Freedom of Navigation" especially in terms of military vessels the western media supports this notion of the US, these notions baffle experts of international law as these acts defy all semblance of international law. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) does not endow military vessels the privilege of innocent passage through territorial seas, because if a warship comes unannounced can never be deemed as an innocent incursion. To this day the US has not ratified the UNCLOS. If the US lawmakers cannot come to a consensus on ratifying the UNCLOS based on the fact of "limiting sovereignty" then the US needs to respect the sovereignty of others and accept the fact that within international law there is a clear distinction between military vessels and commercial vessels when we talk about "freedom of navigation."

The Author:

Shafei Moiz Hali has a master's degree from George Mason University, Virginia, USA in the field of International Commerce and Public Policy. Mr. Hali has been working as an Assistant Professor at the National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad, Pakistan with the department of Government and Public Policy Since 2009. Currently he is pursuing his PhD from the College of Public Administration at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)