The Dutch frigate is on a mission aiming to promote free passage and keep strategic waterways safe, according to the Dutch Defense Ministry.
China on Wednesday said it deployed naval and air forces to deter a Dutch frigate, in a rare encounter between Beijing and Amsterdam in the hotly contested South China Sea.
Chinese forces used “necessary measures, including verbal warnings and electronic jamming,” to force the Dutch frigate away on May 27, China’s military said in an online statement.
The move came after the Dutch frigate, HNLMS De Ruyter, allegedly trespassed into waters near the Paracel Islands and “repeatedly” flew its helicopter over the islands that China claims as its territory, according to Beijing’s accounts of the episode.
Zhai Shichen, a spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command, called the Dutch Navy’s actions “provocative.”
China “firmly opposes” the Dutch operation, Zhang said, adding that they’ll resolutely defend sovereignty and security.
The Dutch Defense Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comments.
The Dutch naval vessel is on a global mission that its Defense Ministry said aims to promote free passage and maintain the safety of strategic waterways.
As part of the five-and-a-half-month deployment, the warship visited Manila, Philippines, last week and participated in various exercises with Philippine naval forces.
The Paracel Islands, where the latest encounter took place, are a small archipelago located roughly equidistant from the coasts of Vietnam and China’s southernmost island, Hainan. Both countries claim the Paracel Islands, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has occupied them since 1974, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook.
The CCP claims almost the entire South China Sea, a strategic and resource-rich waterway, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated its assertion under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The regime rejects the ruling and has repeatedly pledged to defend its sovereignty.
Speaking to reporters in Manila, Rodger de Wit, commander of the HNLMS De Ruyter, said the Dutch Navy’s presence in the Indo-Pacific region demonstrated the Netherlands’ commitment to international law, particularly UNCLOS.
“We’re strong supporters of that, and it doesn’t matter if that’s the North Sea or the South China Sea,” he said on May 22, according to the official Philippine News Agency.
“That’s the reason why we are here as well—to promote freedom of navigation, keep the seas open, keep the trade going.”
By Dorothy Li
