United States President Approved Maritime Patrol in West Philippine Sea

US President Donald Trump has accepted a plan to enable the US navy more freedom to carry patrols in the South China Sea, in a move that could be viewed as a challenge to an extended  China’s maritime claims.

In April, the plan was presented to the White House by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis describes a full-year schedule of when US navy ships could travel through disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Although the U.S. Navy has routinely handled these “freedom of navigation operations” all over the world for many years, the Obama administration stops them in the South China Sea from 2012 to 2015, with only a few patrols in 2016, out of concern for upsetting China.

 

Mischief Reef was controlled by the Philippines until 1995 when China took control the place.