The United States has been taking some action for 40 years to protect freedom of navigation throughout the world's oceans. A significant part of them relates to the practice of compliance with the norms and provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 on the part of the Asia-Pacific Region, where the key opponent of the United States is traditionally the People's Republic of China. However, the US allies - the Republic of Korea, Japan and Taiwan - are also under pressure from Washington. At the same time, the contradictory nature of US policy in this area is that the US not only does not participate in the 1982 Convention, but also interprets its main norms and provisions quite broadly. They use the protection of freedom of navigation not only to protect the liberal world order, where the key role is played by world trade, but also exclusively in their military and strategic interests.