US Warship Sails Near Disputed Islands in Tense South China Sea
By Staff, Agencies
An American warship sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the US Navy said, challenging Beijing's claims on the resource-rich waterway and prompting a warning from the Chinese military.
The Thursday operation came a day after China fired ballistic missiles into the sea as part of ongoing live-fire exercises, inflaming already high tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The US regularly conduct "freedom of navigation operations" in the area to challenge Chinese territorial claims.
The US Navy's Pacific Fleet said in a statement that the USS Mustin, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed Thursday "in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands to ensure critical shipping lanes in the area remain free and open".
The Chinese military on Friday accused the US ship of entering China's territorial waters near the islands without authorization.
Chinese forces tracked the warship and then warned it to leave, said military spokesman Li Huamin.
In recent years, China has aggressively pursued its territorial claims in the South China Sea, building small shoals and reefs into military bases with airstrips and port facilities.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan also have competing claims in the South China Sea, through which international trade worth trillions of dollars passes a year.
Tensions have risen this week in the area near the Paracel Islands - called Xisha by Beijing - where the Chinese military has been conducting exercises.
