ABSTRACT
The United States Freedom of Navigation program contests claims to water and airspace that are inconsistent with the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea. By conducting Freedom of Navigation and Overflight Programs around Chinese-held features, the United States has sought to signal that Chinese claims to water and airspace do not comport with international law. Chinese officials deny that freedom of navigation is at issue in the South China Sea. China has two domestic laws relating to the restrictions it places on innocent passage in the territorial sea and military activities in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). Historically, China had objected to some military activities that other countries – particularly, the United States – may conduct in its EEZ. The United States and China hold differing interpretations of the military activities that are permissible in a coastal state's EEZ.
