China shoos U.S. ship as Taiwan holds live-fire drill

China’s military said Friday it drove away a United States naval ship that “illegally intruded” into its territorial waters as neighboring Taiwan’s air force conducted livefire training exercises ahead of the inaugural of its new president.

Chinese naval ships and warplanes tailed and monitored the USS Halsey sailing near the Xisha Islands, the Chinese name for the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, before issuing a warning to drive the American destroyer away, China’s military spokesperson Tian Junli said.

“The actions by the United States seriously violate China’s sovereignty and security,” he added.

Tian accused Washington of being the “creator of security risks in the South China Sea” and the “biggest destroyer” of peace and stability in the area.

In a statement, the US Navy confirmed the ship had “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands.”

“At the conclusion of the operation, USS Halsey exited the excessive claim and continued operations in the South China Sea,” it added.

“Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s fighter jets fired US-made Maverick missiles and laser-guided bombs to hit “sea and land targets at the offshore reef range near Penghu,” the Taiwan Military News Agency said Friday on its website, referring to a small collection of islands administered by Taiwan.

LUIS TATO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE WOMAN wades through flood waters at an inundated residential area in Garissa. Kenya is grappling with one of its worst floods in recent history following weeks of extreme rainfall that scientists have linked to a changing climate. At least 257 people have been killed and more than 55,000 households have been displaced as murky waters submerge entire villages, destroy roads and inundate dams.