U.S. calls German warship's plan to sail South China Sea support for rules-based order

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - The United States on
Wednesday hailed plans by NATO ally Germany to sail a warship
across the contested South China Sea, calling it welcome support
for a "rules-based international order" in the region, something
Washington says is threatened by China.
German government officials said on Tuesday a German frigate
would set sail for Asia in August and, on its return journey,
become the first German warship to cross the South China Sea
since 2002. "The United States has a national interest in the
maintenance of peace and stability, respect for international
law, lawful unimpeded commerce, and freedom of navigation and
other lawful uses of the sea," a spokeswoman for the U.S. State
Department said.
"We welcome Germany's support for a rules-based
international order in the Indo-Pacific. The international
community has a vital stake in the preservation of an open
maritime order."
A spokesman for the foreign ministry in China, which claims
most of the South China Sea, said countries enjoyed freedom of
navigation and overflight in the waterway under international
law, but added: "they cannot take it as an excuse to undermine
the sovereignty and security of littoral countries."
German officials said the warship would not pass within the
12-nautical-mile limits China and rival states claim as
territorial waters around contested features in the strategic
waterway.
China has established military outposts on artificial
islands it has built in the South China Sea and Washington has
rejected Beijing's disputed claims to offshore resources in most
of the sea as "completely unlawful." The U.S. Navy regularly conducts "freedom of navigation"
operations in which its warships pass close by to some of these
islands. It has been keen for allies to follow suit.
Last month, France said a French nuclear-propelled attack
submarine and warship patrolled in the South China Sea to
underscore freedom of navigation.