PLA warns off US warship that entered disputed waters
American vessel’s passage near Spratly Islands is violation of China’s sovereignty, Beijing says
Beijing says it warned away a US warship that entered waters near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea yesterday.
The Chinese protest against the US warship’s passage through the disputed waters was the first of its kind since July.
According to the statement posted by the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command on its social media account, the USS Chancellorsville guided-missile cruiser “illegally” entered the waters adjacent to the Spratly Islands, known in China as the Nansha Islands, and reefs yesterday without the approval of the Chinese government.
The islands are a disputed archipelago claimed by mainland China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
The Southern Theatre Command organised naval and air forces to monitor and warn off the US warship, theatre command spokesman Senior Colonel Tian Junli said in the statement.
The statement said the actions of the US military had seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, which was further strong evidence of its pursuit of navigation hegemony and “militarisation” of the South China Sea.
The statement also called the US a “risk maker” in the South China Sea, adding that Chinese troops remained on high alert at all times to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security.
The Seventh Fleet of the US
Navy said USS Chancellorsville asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands yesterday, consistent with international law.
“Nothing [China] says otherwise will deter us,” a statement by the fleet said.
In July, Chinese military forces tracked the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold after Beijing said it had trespassed into waters off the Paracel Islands, known in China as the Xisha Islands, in the South China Sea.
At the end of August two US warships, including USS Chancellorsville, transited the Taiwan Strait and China said it was monitoring the passage and stood ready to thwart any provocation.
The protest yesterday by the PLA came amid continuing tensions in the South China Sea and soon after an encounter between Chinese and Philippine vessels near the Spratly Islands this month. Manila accused China of “forcefully” seizing rocket debris from its navy during the incident.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris last week visited Palawan, making her the highest-ranking US official to visit the Philippine island near the Spratlys. There she reaffirmed the US-Philippine alliance and, in an apparent reference to China, denounced “intimidation and coercion” in the South China Sea.
Nothing [China] says otherwise will deter us
STATEMENT BY SEVENTH FLEET OF THE U.S. NAVY