The US plans a third patrol near the disputed South China Sea.
Reuters are carrying a story of fresh tensions in US/China relations a day after President Obama met with China's Xi at a nuclear summit in Washington.
The U.S. Navy plans to conduct another passage near disputed islands in the South China Sea in early April, a source familiar with the plan said yesterday, the third in series of challenges that have drawn sharps rebukes from China.
The exact timing of the exercise and which ship would travel inside a 12-nautical mile limit around a disputed island was not immediately clear.
The United States has conducted what it calls "freedom of navigation" exercises in recent months, sailing near disputed islands to underscore its right to navigate the seas. U.S. Navy officials have said they plan to conduct more and increasingly complex exercises in the future.
U.S. Navy ships regularly patrol the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trln of world trade travels every year. China claims most of the area, and Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
Not an immediate market mover but one to keep an eye on for any signs of escalation.
Full story from Reuters here
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USS Stennis heads up the current South China Sea patrol
