Foreword: Freedom of navigation is a national policy implemented by the United States since 1983 with the intention of challenging the maritime claims of other countries, since defining China as a major power competition relationship, the South China Sea has become the focus of the United States to contain China, the US military ships and aircraft high-profile cooperation with all-round military intervention in the South China Sea, Sino-US game in the South China Sea has also intensified.
One: The Origin of Freedom of Navigation in the United States
In The history of the United States, there are many examples of politicians using story-making events to initiate war mobilization, such as using the Boston tea party to trigger popular support for the War of Independence, using the self-detonation of the battleship "Maine" to inspire public support for the Spanish-American War, in 1964, the DESTROYER "Maddox" of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet broke into North Vietnamese territorial waters, lured the North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats to intercept, and then claimed to be provoked to extend the war to North Vietnam. Before the Gulf War, the Daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador to the United States specially trained by The Great Company to impersonate a Kuwaiti nurse in the U.S. Congress about the Iraqi army killing babies, and U.S. Secretary of State Powell showed laundry detergent at the United Nations Security Council, in short, if the United States wants to launch a war, it must first make a play to mobilize domestic emotions and stimulate public support, since the new crown epidemic, the United States has blamed each other, dissatisfaction has accumulated, the image of the government has been seriously damaged, and the U.S. government urgently needs to transfer contradictions to reverse the situation. Therefore, a series of pressure actions were formulated against China, among which the South China Sea was used as a breakthrough to win over China's neighboring countries and make up for the international image.
Before 1973, the People's Liberation Army Navy did not have a foothold in the South China Sea, through the Battle of the Paracel Sea, the Chinese Navy recaptured the Paracel Islands, the Chinese Navy recaptured 9 islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands through the Battle of the Nansha Sea, and recovered the Mischief Reef in 1995. To further consolidate the actual control of the South China Sea, China's construction of islands and reefs in the South China Sea includes three large airports and military ports, the largest of which is Subi Reef, and Mischief Reef is also a latecomer, and surface-to-air missiles and shore-to-ship missiles have been arranged on these three unsinkable aircraft carriers. Almost cut off the entire South China Sea from the central barricade, so that the U.S. and NATO navies can not advance north from the Strait of Malacca, in 2015, for China's islands and reefs to carry out blow-fill operations, the United States began to intervene with practical actions, U.S. Secretary of Defense Carter once asked China not to carry out island and reef construction,
However, although the Americans shouted loudly, but the essence is only an attempt to use diplomatic pressure and support for countries around the South China Sea and China confrontation to force China to terminate the land reclamation project, at this time Japan, which is trying to divert the East China Sea issue, jumped out and encouraged the United States to be tougher, sending more ships to the South China Sea islands and reefs within 12 nautical miles to "free navigation", and also launching various environmental protection organizations to protest in the name of protecting coral reefs to prevent China's island and reef construction, and the final stage of Obama's presidency began to carry out freedom of navigation actions. The first round of freedom of navigation operation was sent into the waters around Subi Reef in October 2015, China reacted strongly, immediately sent 2 warships to implement follow-up warnings, after the "Larsen" destroyer left, the commander of the Pacific Command Harris immediately visited China to exchange views with the Chinese Navy, but Japan believes that it is difficult for 1 destroyer to enter the island reef in a short period of time to warn China, and when the US military interrupted the second operation during the fourth nuclear test of North Korea, Japan expressed dissatisfaction.
Two: Approach reconnaissance
In the summer of 1999, the P-3CUDIII "Orion" anti-submarine patrol aircraft taxied off from runway No. 5 of Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, with a total of 13 crew members on board, the task was to take over a P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft in the South China Sea to search for and track a Chinese submarine, and this P-3 anti-submarine patrol aircraft released several sonar buoys before leaving. The successor P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft used these sonar buoys to detect the submarine's tracks, and then made a sharp turn to launch a sonar buoy to lock the submarine, and then what was done was to keep tracking for 4 hours and another P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft to change shifts. The radar operator found that the submarine surfaced 1.6 kilometers in front of the aircraft, the P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew at an altitude of 200 feet to take pictures, but the thick fog made the pilot unable to see anything clearly, the radar operator constantly reported the distance and direction to direct the pilot to track the submarine, when the flight altitude dropped to 190 feet, the altitude siren began to buzz, every second will be a matter of life and death, in case of an accident, the aircraft will rush to the sea with several tendons in a row, when the aircraft flies directly above the submarine, the pilot rises to a height of 200 feet, after flying a quick turn to prepare to fly again, after reaching the top of the submarine, the altitude of the aircraft is reduced to 180 feet In the siren masterpiece, the photographer photographed the white navigation lights on the stern of the submarine and the foam of the sea water around the submarine, and then the aircraft climbed to the cruising altitude to continue to track the submarine until it returned in the direction of Okinawa.
Two years later, on April 1, in the same area, an EP-3 electronic reconnaissance aircraft of the U.S. Navy collided with the Chinese J-8 fighter that came to intercept because of too close a distance, resulting in the crash of the Chinese plane, the disappearance of the pilot and the death of the pilot, and the serious consequences of the forced landing of the US aircraft at Lingshui Airport on Hainan Island. In December 2013, the US P-8A "Poseidon" reconnaissance aircraft, which began to be deployed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, was again intercepted by the J-11B fighters belonging to the 8th Aviation Division of the Chinese Naval Aviation Corps when it reached a reconnaissance flight 220 nautical miles east of Hainan Island. The reconnaissance aircraft engaged in drum maneuvers in the nose of the US military. Flying at 90 degrees above, deliberately displaying the air-to-air missiles mounted on the belly of the aircraft, the United States claimed that the interception was a very dangerous provocative event, on May 20, 2015, a P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft of the U.S. Navy flew over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and was warned 8 times by the Chinese Navy, and by 2020, the U.S. side had nearly 2,000 reconnaissance visits.
On March 7, 2009, the US "Immaculate" monitoring ship was operating near the 70 nautical miles of Sanya Military Port, using a towed passive and active low-frequency sonar array to collect underwater acoustic data, the Ministry of Fisheries administration immediately organized two fishing boats and 302 fishing boats to drive away, after shouting that it was invalid to leave, the Chinese vessels drove away in the rear and on both sides, and the "Immaculate" monitoring vessel not only fired 4 high-pressure water guns to spray fishing boats, but also took out weapons and threats. After more than 10 hours of encirclement and interception, the unarmed fishing boats and fishing administration vessels forced the "Immaculate" monitoring ship to withdraw its reconnaissance equipment and evacuate, and on June 12 of that year, the USS McKayth destroyer lowered 1700 meters of AN/SQR-19 tow line sonar on the high seas above the 12-nautical-mile territorial line near Subic Bay in the Philippines, and the trajectory of the nearby Chinese submarines happened to cross the stern of the "McCain" destroyer, and the "McCain" The destroyer did not have time to put away the sonar to avoid, and the sonar of the towing line array was damaged by the Chinese Navy submarine.
On June 14, the U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson admitted that the sonar was damaged in the impact, but did not determine that the collision was a Chinese Navy submarine, on June 16, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang admitted that the Chinese submarine accidentally collided with the U.S. destroyer sonar during normal training, AN/SQR-19 sonar is the U.S. Navy's high-performance tow line array sonar, and did not find a Chinese submarine, so that the U.S. Navy deeply felt the complexity of the South China Sea, so it strengthened the normal deployment of monitoring ships in the South China Sea. Among them, the Paracel Islands and the Zhongsha Islands have become the key activity areas, the US Navy 5 monitoring ships are all deployed in Yokohama, Japan, in the first half of 2021, 161 of the 181 days have a monitoring ship in the seabed topography, hydrology, hydroacoustics, deep-water ocean currents, identify submarine sound patterns, analyze and study the range of submarine activities, in and out of the route, etc., the dispatch rate reached 89%, there is almost no empty window period, each monitoring ship in the South China Sea operation is less than 10 days, more than 30 to 40 days, In addition, during the operation of the monitoring vessel, THE US guided-missile destroyer and P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft will also appear nearby to provide support cover.
Three: Intrusion into territorial waters
The U.S. Navy's freedom of navigation operations began expanding to the northern South China Sea in January 2016, with the destroyer CURTIS Wilbur entering the Chinese Paracel Island, and in May 2016, the "William Wilbur" destroyer entered the Island of China. The destroyer "P. Lawrence" sailed on Fiery Cross Reef in China, in October 2016, the destroyer "Decatur" sailed on the island of China's Paracel Island and Woody Island, the U.S. Navy launched a total of 4 free-navigation operations during the Obama era, in 2017, the United States entered the era of President Trump, the so-called free-navigation operations immediately heated up, in May 2017, the destroyer "Dewey" entered Mischief Reef, in July the destroyer Using the Statesem sailed to The Island of Central Construction in the Paracels, and in August the destroyer "McCain" sailed near Mischief Reef. In October, the guided-missile destroyer "Chafi" went to cruise to the Paracel Islands, and by 2018, the strength and pattern of the US military had changed greatly, in January 2018, the "Huber" approached Huangyan Island, in March the destroyer "Mastin" approached Mischief Reef, in May the cruiser "Antietam" and the destroyer "Higgins" simultaneously launched freedom of navigation operations in the Paracels, and in the past, the US military used a single ship to carry out freedom of navigation operations. This is the first time that the U.S. military has used two warships and the first time that cruisers and destroyers have jointly formed a free-navigation operation.
In September 2018, the US "Decatur" destroyer sailed to Nankao Reef and Chigua Reef at the same time, in this operation, the Chinese Navy's 170 "Lanzhou" destroyer reacted fiercely, on September 30, the "Decatur" destroyer rushed into the adjacent waters of South Lavender Reef, lanzhou "Lanzhou" destroyer immediately went to identify and verify the US ship, has been tracking the distance of about a few nautical miles, found that the "Decatur" destroyer known as "31 Section Burke" in the past few days did not exceed 21 knots of speed, " The captain of the Lanzhou "destroyer judged that its main engine was faulty, the power device of the Lanzhou" destroyer started quickly, accelerated quickly, and the power was not small, the captain immediately made a decision, seized the position at high speed, inserted into the front of the US ship's course, and kept extending the half of the us ship's bow, and then another "other car" action, not hesitate to crash or avoid, firmly blocked the US ship on the right outer side, so that it could not approach the South Kaoru Reef, the difference between the two ships was 41 meters, and the collision between the waist was within a few seconds, due to the "Decatur" The destroyer sailed at a speed of less than 21 knots, there was no maneuvering retreat, and the 9,000-ton destroyer was frightened by the 6,000-ton destroyer and immediately turned around and withdrew, but the U.S. military continued to make trouble, and in November, the U.S. cruiser Charles Vera launched a free-navigation operation in the Paracels.
Throughout 2018, the US military launched a total of 5 freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, and by January 2019, the USS McCampbell sailed to Zhao Shu Island, East Island and Woody Island in the Xisha At the same time, and in February, the destroyers "Spruance" and "Preb" sailed to Mischief Reef again, and the US military's operations in 2018 were significantly larger than those of 2015 to 2017. From the paracels in the north of the South China Sea to the southern Spratly in the south, the frequency and intensity continue to increase, 2020 is the year with the highest frequency of action, more than 60 sub-warships were sent into the South China Sea in the first half of the year alone, the "Montgomery" littoral combat ship entered the adjacent waters of China's Nansha Islands on January 25, the destroyer "Maccumber" broke into the territorial waters of the Paracel Islands on March 10, the destroyer "Barrie" broke into the Paracel Islands on April 28, the cruiser "Bunker Hill" broke into the Spratly Islands on April 29, and the cruiser "Bunker Hill" broke into the Spratly Islands on July 14. The destroyer Johnson broke into the Spratly Islands, and on August 27, the destroyer Mastine broke into the territorial waters of China's Paracel Islands to interfere with the Chinese Navy's routine military exercise in the South China Sea.
More than a decade ago, the US Navy relied on the advantages of its naval ships with advanced technology, large tonnage, and fast speed, often deliberately slowing down when Chinese warships went to drive, waiting for Chinese warships to approach, accelerating immediately when The Chinese warships were almost 20 kilometers away, pulling away the distance and then deliberately slowing down in front, and accelerating when Chinese warships were catching up, so they kept teasing, especially when the wind and waves, the Chinese warships had a small tonnage. Shaking and crew seasickness is much more serious than the US warships, when the Chinese warships track the US aircraft carriers, they send helicopters to hover over the Chinese warships and in turn monitor the Chinese warships, at that time the equipment technology is not as good as people, did not complete the task back to hong Kong for review and treatment of things often happen, since the Chinese Navy's Great Leap Forward, the ships are new, fast, in the face of the critical moment of the PROvocation of the US military did not drop the chain, most of the US Navy ships are twenty or thirty years old, in today's cat and mouse game is always at a disadvantage, It's not as easy as it used to be.
Four: Air intrusion
In addition to the surface ships breaking through the customs, the US military has not been idle in the south China Sea, in the first half of 2020, there were nearly 3,000 military aircraft flying in the Vietnam Sea, the US reconnaissance plane also seriously violated international aviation rules, fraudulently used civil aviation aircraft to code hundreds of times, bomber flight activities have not stopped. On April 30, 2020, two B-1B. strategic bombers took off from South Dakota for a 32-hour round trip to the South China Sea, and on July 4, one B-52 strategic bomber took off from the U.S. mainland for a 28-hour round trip to the South China Sea for joint air and sea exercises with the aircraft carriers NIMITZ and Reagan. The aircraft carrier and the 17th and 5th Flying Wing, together with the Ninth Destroyer Squadron, a total of more than 12,000 officers and men conducted air defense tactical exercises and carrier-based aircraft strike exercises in the South China Sea, and in late July, the two aircraft carriers sailed out of the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and the Philippine Sea. In 2019, the US aircraft carrier strike group entered the South China Sea 5 times, in 2020, the US aircraft carrier strike group entered the South China Sea 6 times, and in 2021, the US aircraft carrier strike group entered the South China Sea 10 times.
Since last year, the US aircraft carrier strike group will not only increase the number of crossings, the route and exercise mode will become more complicated, the time of activity is as short as 4 or 5 days, not more than 10 days, and with other ships and bombers to conduct joint training between sea and air, the exercise subjects are diverse, the actual combat is strong, the amphibious strike group composed of the "United States" amphibious assault ship and the dock landing ship also entered the South China Sea for F-35B fighter take-off and landing training, and also conducted joint exercises with the Australian frigate "Parramatta". The "Gifs" littoral combat ship and the Japanese "Kashima" and "Island Snow" formations carried out joint exercises in the South China Sea, but unlike the previous US aircraft carrier strike group in the South China Sea, which swung wildly and rampaged, the US aircraft carrier strike group paid more and more attention to the passage between the Philippine islands, and when entering and leaving the South China Sea, it took advantage of the geographical characteristics of the Philippines and carefully avoided China's over-the-horizon radar system on Mischief Reef, Subi Reef and Fiery Cross Reef. Such a large group of warships as the aircraft carrier strike group would rather take the narrow waterway between the Philippine islands than pass through the wide ocean surface of the South China Sea, which is nothing more than trying to fight fast and close quickly in the waters where China's ballistic anti-ship missiles are more difficult to reach, and save their lives first.
Five: Conclusion
The rivalry between China and the United States in the South China Sea is comprehensive, and the military activities of the US military will only continue to rise and will not weaken, which reflects the United States' anxiety about china becoming more and more powerful and its attempt to restore the United States to dominate the world, but these so-called "free navigation" have not gained any benefits, China's island and reef construction has been completed step by step, and the Chinese navy has also developed into a well-established major navy at a high speed in recent years. In addition to burning a large amount of dollars and fuel in the South China Sea in recent years, the US Navy has also crashed and destroyed two destroyers and a submarine, which not only makes it worse for the increasingly old US Navy, but also exposes the weakness of the US Navy's officer quality and sailor training level that has fallen endlessly. At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. military was several times larger and more intense than it is now, but there were fewer accidents than they do now.