Beijing slams US naval vessel nearing Xisha islands

BEIJING: Beijing urged the United States to stop its “wrongful behaviour” after a US naval vessel was warned away from China’s territorial waters off the Xisha islands in the South China Sea.

The Chafee, a US guided-missile destroyer, made an unauthorised entry into the nation’s territorial waters, the defence and foreign ministries said on Wednesday.

China dispatched a guided-missile frigate, two fighter jets and a helicopter “in an emergency response” and warned the US ship to leave, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

China is “resolutely opposed” to the entry, and has lodged “solemn representations” to the US, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying.

“The Xisha islands are China’s inherent territory,” Hua said.

The Chinese government announced the baseline of the territorial sea off the islands in 1996 under the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone.

“The US vessel’s behaviour violated China’s and international law, which severely impaired China’s sovereignty and security interests and threatened the safety of personnel of both sides,” Hua said.

China urged the US to respect China’s sovereignty, as well as the efforts that countries in the region have made to maintain peace in the South China Sea, Hua added.

The unauthorised entry, which the Defence Ministry said “will easily trigger accidents”, came after another US naval vessel entered China’s territorial waters near the islands without permission in July.

The Chinese military will improve its defence capacities “against the US military’s repeated provocations”, the Defence Ministry said.

Zhang Junshe, a researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said the unauthorised entry undermines peace in the South China Sea, as well as the international maritime order.

The situation in the South China Sea had been stabilising as parties involved have agreed to solve disputes peacefully through talks, and the US is being a “troublemaker” by making such unauthorised entries, Zhang said. — China Daily/Asia News Network