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 Naval commanders had hoped to carry out another "freedom of
navigation" exercise in the region as early as December as part of a
plan to regularly send vessels into the area and exercise what the
United States views as its rights under international law, officials
have said.
But the Obama administration, which is weighing the risks of raising
tensions with Beijing at a time when the United States is focused on
the fight against Islamic State, has not approved the next such
patrol, said the officials, who asked not to be named.
One official said the next U.S. Navy sail-by was likely to come in
January, in what would be the second direct challenge to the
territorial limits China effectively claims around seven artificial
islands in one of the world's busiest sea lanes.
The Navy conducted a similar exercise in October to underscore the
U.S. position that the crucial sea lane should be treated as
international waters.
 In that exercise, the guided missile destroyer Lassen sailed close
to one of China's manmade islands in October, drawing an angry
rebuke from China and a shadowing patrol.
Pentagon spokesman Bill Urban on Monday declined to comment on
future plans for Navy operations. "As Secretary (of Defense Ash)
Carter has stated, the United States will fly, sail or operate
anywhere international law allows," he told Reuters.
The Lassen's October mission came after months of frustration within
the Pentagon at what some defense officials saw as unnecessary
delays by the White House in approving the mission.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5
trillion of world trade ships every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei,
the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
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While the U.S. Navy is expected to keep its technological edge in
Asia for decades, China's potential trump card is sheer weight of
numbers, with dozens of naval and coast guard vessels routinely
deployed in the South China Sea, security experts say.
President Barack Obama last month demanded that China halt land
reclamation work that is turning seven reefs into artificial
islands, including some where China is building airfields and other
facilities.
China's navy has carried out more exercises in the South China Sea
in recent days, its defense ministry said on Sunday.
China views the U.S. patrols, along with flights last month of
American B-52 bombers near some of the islands, as a provocation.
Last week, China also said an agreement between the United States
and Singapore to deploy a U.S. P-8 Poseidon spy plane to the
city-state was aimed at militarizing the region.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Jonathan
Oatis)
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