CHINA, AMERICA ENGAGE IN FRESH WAR OF WORDS OVER TRANSIT OF U.S. WARSHIP

China on Thursday slammed the latest transit by a US warship through the South China Sea, calling it a “violation” and adding that its navy “warned away” the American vessel from the contested waters.

The US navy denied the claim by China, saying the warship “USS Curtis Wilbur was not expelled from any nation’s territory” from near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

China, Taiwan and Vietnam claim sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, known as Xisha islands in China.

It is the second time in two days that China and the US have sparred over the passage of the same warship, which sailed through the Taiwan Strait, which separates the self-ruled island from China, on Wednesday.

The Chinese foreign ministry said it warned the US over its “provocations” in the disputed South China Sea. “China urges the US to stop infringements and provocations,” ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday. Zhao’s remarks came after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said it “warned away” the US warship after it allegedly “broke into China’s Xisha territorial waters”.

The PLA’S southern theatre command warned the US destroyer that “its behaviour severely violated China’s sovereignty and security”.