Washingtons Muddled Message in the

South China Sea

The Obama administration deployed a
destroyer to the South China Sea to send
a signal to Beijing. But what signal did it
send?

BY KEITH JOHNSON, DAN DE LUCE-NOVEMBER 5,

2015
After months of internal debate, the Obama administration last week finally decided
to dispatch a warship to challenge Chinas far-reaching territorial claims in the South
China Sea. But in the days since, U.S. officials have offered conflicting accounts of the
operation, potentially undermining the whole point of the symbolic mission and raising
doubts about whether Washington is ready to test Beijings claims at all.

The cruise of the guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen had been billed as a freedom
of navigation operation that would make clear that Washington regards the seas
around Beijings man-made islands in the South China Sea as international waters.
But over the last week, Pentagon and administration officials have struggled to explain
exactly what the Lassen did when it sailed near Subi Reef, where China has
constructed an island dredged from the sea floor.
When questioned by Foreign Policy, officials offered conflicting accounts as to whether
the ship took steps to directly challenge Chinas maritime claims in the strategic
waterway or whether it pulled its punches, tacitly conceding Beijings position.
Initially, officials insisted the Lassen carried out a freedom of navigation operation,
which could mean the vessel operated sonar, had its helicopters take off from the
deck, or lingered in the area. But other officials said they could not confirm it was a
freedom of navigation mission and that the ship may have refrained from any
helicopter flights or intelligence gathering and instead simply sailed through without
loitering or circumnavigating the area.
Further adding to the confusion, the P-8 surveillance plane accompanying
the Lassen appears to have stayed outside the 12-mile range of the man-made island,
a boundary that delimits territorial seas and airspace.
The administrations mixed messaging has played out publicly in recent days on both
sides of the Pacific. U.S. officials told Defense News over the weekend that
the Lassen had merely made an innocent passage close to the artificial island at
Subi Reef a phrase with a specific meaning under maritime law that applies to
sailing through other countries territorial waters. On Monday, officials repeated the
same claim to U.S. Naval Institute News, saying the ship and an accompanying
surveillance plane took steps that would signal acquiescence to Beijings claims.
The reports triggered a bout of speculation and criticism from analysts and scholars
tracking the issue, because a warship can only make an innocent passage in waters
belonging to another country. If the Lassen indeed made an innocent passage, that
would imply that the United States recognizes Chinese claims around the man-made
island which would be contrary to Washingtons stated position on the question and
at odds with the entire purpose of the freedom of navigation operation in the first
place. Freedom of navigation operations, in contrast, are carried out in international
waters to underscore the global right of free transit.
Expert commentators such as Raul Pedrozo, a non-resident scholar at the Stockton
Center for the Study of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College, flagged in an
article what he called a poorly managed operation, while Mira Rapp-Hooper of the
Center for a New American Security highlighted in another online essay the missions
troubling lack of clarity.
The muddle from the Obama administration was at odds with a high-profile trip to the
region by Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who reiterated Washingtons vow to sail
through any area deemed international waters. Carter paid a visit to the

USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier on Thursday in the South China Sea,
accompanied by his Malaysian counterpart, Hishammuddin Hussein. Theres a lot of
concern about Chinese behavior out here, he told reporters.
China watchers are still trying to figure out whether the United States really did dial
back its ambitions for the long-contemplated cruise or if there has been some sort of
public relations error by military officers or U.S. officials who may not be well-versed in
the arcana of international maritime law.
Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, which has carefully
tracked Chinas island-building binge, called it a potentially huge blunder. Jeff Smith,
an Asia expert at the American Foreign Policy Council,said he is stumped by the
administrations confused description of the operation.
If we portray it as an innocent passage, then were saying weve accepted Chinas
unlawful territorial claims, said James Holmes, a professor of strategy at the U.S.
Naval War College. Thats a self-defeating message, not one the Navy or the
Pentagon want to send.
Bonnie Glaser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the
administration needed to clear up any confusion about exactly what transpired near
Subi Reef.
If the United States does not clarify what it actually did, then there is the potential for
undermining the message, Glaser said.
Unease is mounting in Congress, as well, where top lawmakers have been pushing
the Obama administration to take a tougher stance against Chinas aggressive
behavior.
The strategic intent of Americas freedom of navigation operation in the South China
Sea should be crystal clear, a congressional staffer told FP. The Department of
Defense needs to put to rest the nagging questions about the operation and the legal
message it was intended to send.
A U.S. military officer told FP that the Lassen definitely carried out a freedom of
navigation operation, meant to assert the universal right of any country to sail in
international waters, and not an innocent passage. And the ships captain, Cmdr.
Robert Francis, told reporters Thursday that he had carried out a freedom of
navigation operation, but he did not offer additional details.
Other criticism of how the United States conducted the operation is unwarranted.
While the Lassen reportedly turned off its fire-control radars during the sail-by of Subi
Reef, that was not an effort to transform the cruise into an innocent passage or
otherwise assuage China. Rather, that is standard procedure for prudent
commanders, notes M. Taylor Fravel, an expert on China maritime issues at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Under both a 2013 memo of understanding
between Washington and Beijing and a 2014 maritime code governing unexpected
encounters at sea, ships from the two countries are supposed to generally avoid

anything that resembles a simulated attack, including aiming fire-control radar.

Still, Pentagon officials have yet to make clear if the Lassen performed the sorts of
activities necessary to distinguish a freedom of navigation operation from a quick and
harmless transit of foreign waters. Those activities can include circumnavigating
disputed features, gathering intelligence, or loitering in the area rather than sailing a
straight and speedy course. For decades, the U.S. Navy has conducted dozens of
freedom of navigation operations each year, forcefully challenging what it considers
excessive maritime claims by friends and foes alike, including China.
After the latest such operation, if that is what it was, and even though the United
States seems to have gone out of its way to minimize its impact, China is far
from mollified. Chinas top admiral warned last week that U.S. actions could spark a
war. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying saidTuesday at a briefing that the
U.S. missions were a blatant provocation before taking aim at what she described as
Washingtons double standard. The practice of manipulating international law for
political and selfish gains is quintessential hypocrisy and hegemony, she said.
Chinas heated reaction, limited thus far to rhetoric as opposed to any aggressive
response with planes or warships, shows how the high-profile and well-telegraphed
missions rankle Beijing, said Glaser. This is something they can tolerate as long as
its not publicized on a regular basis. Its the media attention to it that really creates
problems for the Chinese leadership, she said.
The Lassen, which was shadowed by Chinese naval vessels as it traveled near Subi
Reef, also sailed within 12 nautical miles of reefs claimed by the Philippines and
Vietnam. Washington has made clear it takes no position on the competing claims
from China or other countries in the South China Sea but has urged Beijing to drop its
objection to a multilateral deal to settle the disagreements.
Still, many countries in Asia, especially U.S. allies and partners such as Japan,
Australia, and the Philippines, had long been clamoring for Washington to take
decisive action and send a clear message to Beijing. The White House weighed the
operation near the man-made islands for months, as some officials worried the dispute
over the South China Sea could derail opportunities for cooperation with Beijings
government on climate change, trade, and other crucial issues.
The Lassens cruise despite its clumsy aftermath clearly riled China, but the
move as yet has done little to either deter Beijing or definitively reassure allies.
The United States has to decide how serious it really is about preserving primacy in
Asia and how much cost and risk it is willing to accept to do so, said Hugh White, a
professor of strategic studies at Australian National University. If it is not willing to do
more than a few [freedom of navigation] operations, the outlook is not bright for
America in Asia over the longer term.
Photo credit: JOHN J. MIKE/USN/Getty
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