China angry as US ship sails near South China Sea reef

Row casts a doubt on easing tensions

BEIJING // China yesterday accused the US of trespassing after an American warship sailed near a reef claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea.

It was the first such operation by Donald Trump’s administration in the disputed waterway.

The row came during a period of improved relations between the countries with the US president saying that Washington has dialled down pressure on Beijing over other issues in hopes of encouraging their cooperation on North Korea.

The guided-missile destroyer entered the area

USS Dewey “without permission from the Chinese government”, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said and claimed that the ship had “trespassed in the waters near the relevant islands and reefs”.

“The relevant action taken by the US vessel undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests, and is very likely to cause unexpected sea and air accidents,” he said, urging Washington to stop “provocative actions”. The sailed less

USS Dewey than 12 nautical miles from Mischief Reef – part of the Spratly Islands – yesterday morning, a US official said. The UN says nations can establish the breadth of their territorial sea up to a limit of 12 nautical miles.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counter- claims from Taiwan and several South-East Asian nations including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

It has extended reefs into arti- ficial islands capable of staging military aircraft operations. The US has challenged annexations of these islets and advocated for a diplomatic settlement to the disputes. Meanwhile, Taiwan forces simulated an invasion by China yesterday as part of live-fire war games against a backdrop of rising tensions with Beijing.

The annual drills are Taiwan’s biggest military exercise and mocked up a scenario in which Chinese troops launched an amphibious assault.

They took place on the outlying Penghu Islands, which sit in the strait that separates Taiwan from China. The defence ministry has warned of a rising military threat from China, which still considers self-ruling Taiwan part of its territory to be reunified, by force if necessary.