BEIJING, Oct 21 – China’s military said on Tuesday it had sent forces to watch a U.S. warship that “illegally” entered waters around a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, while further north in the waterway, Taiwan reported a standoff with a Chinese vessel.
China views almost all of the South China Sea as its own territory, despite overlapping claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, with recent tension most pronounced between Beijing and Manila.
The Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command said the USS Charleston “illegally intruded” into waters adjacent to Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands without Chinese government approval in the early hours of Tuesday.
“The U.S. action infringes upon China’s sovereign rights and interests, jeopardises maritime security, and is detrimental to regional peace and stability,” it said in a statement.
“The U.S. side should immediately cease such activities.”
China’s navy dispatched forces to track and monitor the ship, it added.
A U.S. Nay 7th Fleet spokesperson said the USS Charleston conducted routine operations in international waters consistent with international law.
“All nations enjoy freedom of navigation and other lawful uses of the sea in this area,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows in support of regional peace, stability, and security.”
A Philippines’ military spokesperson said the U.S. ship “did not trespass into ‘Chinese territory’,” adding that no nation had the authority to require prior permission for “lawful transit through international waters.”
