USS Montgomery undertook its first freewheeling patrol of 2020 near the Spratlys on January 25, the US Navy said.

Coastal combat ship USS Montgomery last weekend conducted a FONOP (FONOP) operation near Chinese artificial islands illegally accretion in Vietnam's Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, US Navy on 1/28 said.

Joe Keiley, spokesman for the US Navy's 7th Fleet, said the patrol of the USS Montgomery was intended to "assert freedom of navigation in the Spratly Islands in accordance with international law". This is the first US Navy FONOP operation in the South China Sea in 2020.

According to Keiley, this activity is to challenge the restrictions imposed by the parties on the right to harmless passage in the area, as well as to protect the lawful use of the sea.

The images posted on the US Navy website show that the USS Montgomery was crossing the Chinese artificial island illegally depositing on the Cross and Gac Ma rocks under Vietnamese sovereignty.

Colonel Li Huamin, spokesman for the Chinese Army's Southern Military Region (PLA), later issued a statement saying that the PLA had deployed an air force, navy to monitor the USS Montgomery and to protest patrols. US freedom of navigation in this area.

Vietnam asserts its undisputed sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, while respecting the freedom of navigation and welcoming actions that contribute to regional peace and security of these countries. East Sea.

China unilaterally drew a "nine-dash line" to claim unjustified sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, overlapping the waters of other countries in the region, and at the same time, reclamation and militarization of artificial islands illegally. to reinforce claims, despite international law and the objections of nations around the world.

Washington has repeatedly sent warships through the South China Sea during operations to free navigation and challenge Beijing's irrational claims. The US Navy at the end of August 2019 dispatched USS Wayne E. Meyer to patrol within 12 nautical miles around the Cross and Mischief rocks in the Spratly Islands. Two weeks later, this battleship continued to close to the Paracel Islands. In November 2019, US coastal combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords passed through the Spratly Islands during a freedom of navigation patrol operation.