McCain wants details on Navy patrols near Chinese islands

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is urging the Pentagon to publicly provide more details on plans to step up patrols in the disputed South China Sea.

“I fully support your declaration that the United States ‘will fly, sail and operate anywhere in the world that international law allows,’” McCain wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter this week that was published by U.S. Naval Institute News.

{mosads}“I believe it is critical that the Department of Defense publicly clarify, to the greatest extent possible, the legal intent behind this operation and any future operations of a similar nature.”

Last month, the Navy sent a destroyer within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island in the Spratly archipelago built by China. Chinese officials rebuked the move, calling it “dangerous” and “provocative.”

China has been building artificial islands to bolster its claims to the disputed waters.

U.S. officials say they aren’t taking a position on the maritime disputes, but that the passage is integral to world trade and needs to be free to sail through.

Officials have said little publicly about the October operation and were initially reluctant to even acknowledge it took place.

“I don’t like in general the idea of talking about our military operations,” Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee the day after the operation following repeated questioning. “But what you read in the newspaper is accurate.”

In his letter, McCain, the committee chairman, asked Carter for answers to questions in writing as soon as possible.

McCain wants the Pentagon to detail the territorial claims the Navy is challenging; under what authority the ship sailed through the waters; and whether China was notified ahead of time.

“Given the sensitive political dynamics and detailed legal implications of our actions,” he wrote, “it is vital that there be no misunderstanding about our objectives in either the Asia-Pacific region or within the international community.”