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 The patrol by the USS Lassen was the most significant U.S.
challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limits China
asserts around the islands in the Spratly archipelago and could
ratchet up tension in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
One U.S. defense official said the USS Lassen sailed within 12
nautical miles of Subi Reef. A second defense official said the
mission, which lasted a few hours, included Mischief Reef and would
be the first in a series of freedom-of-navigation exercises aimed at
testing China's territorial claims.
China's Foreign Ministry said the "relevant authorities" monitored,
followed and warned the USS Lassen as it "illegally" entered waters
near islands and reefs in the Spratlys without the Chinese
government's permission.
"China will resolutely respond to any country's deliberate
provocations," the ministry said in a statement that gave no details
on precisely where the U.S. ship sailed.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang later told a daily briefing that
if the United States continued to "create tensions in the region,"
China might conclude it had to "increase and strengthen the building
up of our relevant abilities".
 Lu did not elaborate, except to say he hoped it did not come to
that, but his comments suggested China could further boost its
military presence in the South China Sea.
"China hopes to use peaceful means to resolve all the disputes, but
if China has to make a response then the timing, method and tempo of
the response will be made in accordance with China's wishes and
needs."
The second U.S. defense official said additional patrols would
follow in coming weeks and could be conducted around features that
Vietnam and the Philippines have built up in the Spratlys.
"This is something that will be a regular occurrence, not a one-off
event," said the official. "It's not something that's unique to
China."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest referred questions on any
specific operations to the Pentagon but said the United States had
made clear to China the importance of free flow of commerce in the
South China Sea.
The U.S. Navy last went within 12 miles of Chinese-claimed territory
in the Spratlys in 2012.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5
trillion of world trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia,
Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
The Philippines, a vocal critic of China's activities in the South
China Sea, welcomed the U.S. action.
"The American passage through these contentious waters is meant
precisely to say that there are norms as to what
freedom-of-navigation entails and they intend to exercise so there
is no de facto changing of the reality on the ground," President
Benigno Aquino told reporters.
RISK OF ESCALATION
The decision to go ahead with the patrol follows months of
deliberation and it risk upsetting already strained ties with China.
 "By using a guided-missile destroyer, rather than smaller vessels
... they are sending a strong message," said Ian Storey, a South
China Sea expert at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian
Studies.
"They have also said, significantly, that there will be more patrols
– so it really now is up to China how it will respond."
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Some experts have said China would likely resist attempts to make
such U.S. actions routine. China's navy could for example try to
block or attempt to surround U.S. vessels, they said, risking an
escalation.
Zhu Feng, executive director of the China Centre for Collaborative
Studies of the South China Sea at Nanjing University, said he
expected Beijing to limit its response as it ultimately did not want
confrontation.
"Both sides will be quite verbal but real actions, I hope, will show
signs of exercising restraint," Zhu said.
COMPETING CLAIMS
Both Subi and Mischief Reefs were submerged at high tide before
China began a dredging project to turn them into islands in 2014.
Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12-nautical mile
limits cannot be set around man-made islands built on previously
submerged reefs.
Washington worries that China has built up its outposts with the aim
of extending its military reach in the South China Sea. China says
they will have mainly civilian uses as well as undefined defense
purposes.
The patrol comes just weeks ahead of a series of Asia-Pacific
summits President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping are
expected to attend in the second half of November.
Xi surprised U.S. officials after a meeting with Obama in Washington
last month by saying that China had "no intention to militarize" the
islands.
Even before that, however, satellite photographs had shown the
construction of three military-length airstrips by China in the
Spratlys, including one each on Subi and Mischief reefs.
Some U.S. officials have said that the plan for patrols was aimed in
part at testing Xi's statement on militarization.
Pentagon officials say the United States regularly conducts
freedom-of-navigation operations around the world to challenge
excessive maritime claims.
In early September, China sent naval vessels within 12 miles of the
Aleutian Islands off Alaska. China said they were there as part of a
routine drill following exercises with Russia.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Yeganeh Torbati and David Brunnstrom in
Washington and Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Additional reporting by Tim
Kelly in Tokyo, Grego Torode in Hong Kong and Lincoln Feast in
Sydney; Writing by Dean Yates and Alex Richardson; Editing by Robert
Birsel)
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