NOW GO AWAY OR WE SHALL IRK YOU A SECOND TIME: USS McCampbell Freedom of Navigation Operation Past Paracel Islands Irks China.

Lu Kang, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, was critical of McCampbell’s FONOP during his regularly scheduled briefing with the media.

“The Chinese side immediately sent military vessel and aircraft to conduct verification and identification on the U.S. ship and warned it to leave. We have lodged stern representations with the U.S. side,” Lu said, according to the official English translation of the ministry’s press conference.

Starting in the 1990s, in a move not recognized by international maritime law, China claimed a straight baseline around the entire Paracel Islands archipelago, which it calls the Xisha Islands. The Chinese government wants foreign warships to ask permission before operating near the islands. Vietnam and Taiwan also claim the chain.

In response, U.S. Navy officials stated McCampbell operated within the standards of international maritime law.

A modest proposal: Anyone hostile to freedom of the seas should opt themselves out of maritime-based trading.