The freedom of navigation at sea is “under increasing pressure” because countries such as China, Iran and Russia are becoming more aggressive toward others in their respective parts of the world, a U.S. Navy admiral said June 28.
Such threats could pose problems for U.S. military forces as well as American companies engaged in trade and other international economic activity, said Vice Adm. James Crawford, the Navy’s judge advocate general, who spoke at an American Bar Association (ABA) breakfast in Washington, D.C.
“It’s been said that the 21st century will be a maritime century, and only time will tell whether that view is accurate or not,” Crawford told the ABA audience. “But it’s certainly true that the United States faces some significant challenges in the maritime domain.”
China is among those challenges. The rising Asian power is expanding its territorial and jurisdictional claims in the South China Sea and is stepping up its resistance to U.S. military activity in the region.
The Persian Gulf region is also a major concern, as Iranian forces have repeatedly interfered with vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz. In January, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard intercepted two U.S. Navy boats and briefly detained 10 sailors.
“The fact that [the sailors] were turned over the next day is irrelevant to the fact that [Iran] interfered with an internationally recognized right to transit,” Crawford said.
Russian activity has also set off alarm bells. In April, for instance, Russian fighter jets buzzed the USS Donald Cook (DDG-75), a guided-missile destroyer, in the Baltic Sea.
Crawford reiterated the Navy’s support for Senate ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), saying that accession would help the United States counter threats to freedom of navigation. Becoming a party to UNCLOS “would strengthen our position in critiquing behaviors,” he said.