U.S. Navy and Chinese Military in the South China Sea

A US Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed through waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea challenging China’s claim to the area, the Navy said Wednesday (12 May 2020).

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a press release that on Thursday it had sent the USS Montgomery and transport ship USNS Cesar Chavez, near the West Capella, an oil exploration ship which is operating within Malaysian waters.

The US Navy was targeting China with live-fire missile tests in the Philippine Sea last week, sending a message that it was up to the challenge of the PLA’s new advanced systems, military analysts said. In the drill in waters east of the Philippines on Thursday, the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry launched a medium-range Standard Missile-2, the US Seventh Fleet said on its Facebook page. It was accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh, which also launched an SM-2 during the drill.

Four B-1B bombers and about 200 airmen from Texas arrived in Guam on Friday to conduct training operations with allies and partners, the Air Force said.

The Global Times editor tweeted about the post on Friday. “I said on Chinese social media that China needs to expand the number of its nuclear warheads to over 1,000 to strengthen nuclear deterrent, given the rising strategic ambitions and impulses of the US targeting China,” Hu wrote. “It received over 60K likes. China pledges no-first-use and it loves peace.”