A U.S. warship sailing in the waters near Chinese islands in the South China Sea constitutes a grave challenge to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, foreign policy experts and regional politics observers said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. destroyer USS Lassen entered waters near Zhubi Reef without the permission of the Chinese government.
China is holding active consultations with partners of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea, based on the consensus they have reached in a joint declaration over the issue, noted Qian Feng, vice president of Thailand's Asian Daily.
Against such a background, the U.S. warship entered the adjacent waters of the Chinese islands in a high-profile way, said Qian.
The U.S. move represents an open breach of the consensus reached between the two countries' leaders just days ago, and it is also a provocation of China's position on the South China Sea, Qian said.
Different from a case of "Innocent Passage," the so-called U.S. naval patrol is against international law and could set a dangerous precedent, he added.
Chheang Vannarith, chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, said the U.S. move aims to challenge China's claims over the South China Sea and it could stir up tension in the region.
Joseph Matthews, director of the International Cooperation Department at the Phnom Penh-based Asia Euro University, said the U.S. decision to enter the South China Sea waters is to show off its naval power, which is absolutely unnecessary.
The scholar said ASEAN should take a unanimous stance against this U.S. action and condemn it since it is an act of interference in regional affairs.
"If the regional countries have any disputes whether they are maritime or land-related, it is better to resolve them via bilateral negotiations without interference of a third party," he added.
A U.S. worship sailing in the waters near the Chinese islands in the South China Sea is a "strategic mistake" on the U.S. side since only a few countries in the region would support the U.S. action while many more would take a cautious position, said Tseng Hui-yi, a research associate at the East Asian Institute of National University of Singapore.
While noting that Tuesday's U.S. naval patrol is not an isolated incident, Huang Xiaoming, professor of international politics with Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, said that since Washington started implementing its strategic re-balance to Asia policy, there are voices calling for strengthening U.S. military presence in Asia so as to consolidate its interests there, and the U.S. moves in the South China Sea are actually intended to test China's response.
Madhav Nalapat, professor of international relations at Manipal University in India, said the South China Sea issue is used as a lever to ensure closer military links between some Asian countries and the United States.
The U.S. naval patrol on Tuesday is simply a U.S. way of saying "I am stronger than China," Nalapat added.
Meanwhile, senior strategic analyst Ramesh Chopra in India said China and the United States should put in place enough channels for communication, so as to avoid unexpected incidents regarding the South China Sea.
Ibrahim Yusuf, chairman of the executive board of the Indonesian Council on World Affairs, said he hoped relevant countries could take into consideration concerns of countries around the South China Sea and resolve their disputes by diplomatic means.
