Pentagon Pushes Back at Beijing’s Updated Maritime Law

Naval vessels from the United States, Japan, India, and the Philippines conduct formation exercises and communication drills in the South China Sea, May 2019. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force/U.S. Navy

The U.S. Department of Defense accused Beijing of implementing a revised maritime law on Sept. 1, calling it “a serious threat” to freedom of navigation.

The United States joins several nations pushing back on China’s broad and vaguely defined, territorial claims in the South China Sea.