A top US General has urged other countries to exercise their right to fly over and sail in the disputed South China Sea, or stand to lose these rights in the region altogether.

The Freedom of Navigation program has been a US policy since 1983. Expert say it provides the United States an opportunity to assert its rights to sail and fly over international airspace worldwide in a manner that is consistent with the balance of interests reflected in the United Nations Law of the Seas Convention (UNCLOS).

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Gen. Lori Robinson, commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, said on Tuesday that the US Air Force will continue to exercise the right to fly over the South China Sea by conducting daily missions over the contested region despite China's military buildup in the area. Recently, news surfaced that China has deployed air-to-surface missiles and fighter jets to the South China Sea.

                                                     Daily flight missions

Robinson said the daily flight missions will take place at the same time the militaries of China and the US are holding discussions to avoid a 'miscalculation' in the disputed region.

"We've watched the increased military capability on those islands, whether it's the fighters, whether it's the missiles or the 10,000-foot runways. We will continue to do as we've always done, and that is fly and sail in international airspace in accordance to international rules and norms," Robinson told reporters in Australia.

Several Southeast Asian countries--Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, and the Philippines-- have competing claims over the international waterway, where $5 trillion worth of maritime trade passes through each year.

                                                   International law

Although the US has no territorial claims in the disputed waters, it says it has an interest in making sure that freedom of navigation and overflights over the disputed waters is being freely exercised by all nations within the realm of international law.

General Robinson added that the US presence in the region is one way of reassuring all claimant-countries that Washington will not allow China use force and coercion to assert its claims.

Beijing, for its part, took a hard line on Tuesday saying that  it will not allow any nation to violate its sovereignty in the South China Sea.

                                                    Absolute freedom

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at a press conference, said that a country's claim to freedom of navigation does not translate into giving it the absolute freedom to do whatever it wants to do - obviously targeting the US' recent deployment of a carrier strike group to the region.

Robinson said China and the US, in a bid to avoid a 'possibility of miscalculation' in the region, had both signed an agreement on the rules of behavior in the international airspace in September. She revealed that the two sides are set to continue discussions on the subject sometime this year.

"That has allowed us to have continuous dialogue with the Chinese about how to conduct safe intercepts in accordance with international rules and norms," Robinson said.

TagsFreedom of Navigation, US General Lori Robinson, US Air Force, South China Sea, china