MANILA – The US Navy has conducted its first major freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea in 2023 with the deployment of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) close to the China-occupied Paracel Islands. Back in November, the Pentagon deployed the US guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) to the contested … Continue reading US cranking pressure on China in South China Sea