First, regarding the issue of mailing you a new card without your consent, the correct answer is that if your old card is in normal use, the bank will not send you a new card if you do not ask for it. It is the default that you want to continue using.

Second, annual fees cannot be charged for unactivated cards. This is set by regulators.

As far as I know. Your situation is like this. At present, the rules for card renewal of a few banks are still lagging behind. When the old card is used normally (activated), the new card that is due for renewal is also activated by default, that is, there is no need to activate it again. So it charges you an annual fee. However, this situation does not meet the requirements of current regulatory agencies. So you can ask the bank to refund your annual fee. If the bank disagrees. You can file a complaint with the regulatory agency, the Banking Regulatory Commission. There is a 99% chance that the bank will agree to refund your annual fee.