China warns away US warship near disputed isles in South China Sea
China’s military says it has "driven away" a US warship that had sailed close to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) said on Wednesday that the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold had illegally entered Chinese territorial waters, adding that the move seriously violated China's sovereignty and security.
It also noted that Chinese naval and air forces had tracked the ship and warned it to leave the vicinity of the disputed islands, while showing pictures of the Benfold taken from the deck of the Chinese frigate the Xianning.
"The facts once again show that the United States is nothing short of a 'security risk maker in the South China Sea' and a 'destroyer of regional peace and stability,'" the military said.
The US Navy rejected the accusations, claiming that the Benfold had "asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law." It said Beijing sought to "misrepresent lawful US maritime operations and assert its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims at the expense of its Southeastern Asian neighbors in the South China Sea."
The Paracels, called the Xisha Islands by China, are also claimed by Vietnam and Chinese Taipei, with Beijing claiming historic rights to resources within the region's so-called nine-dash line. China claims the South China Sea in its entirety. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei have overlapping claims to parts of the sea.
The US, however, sides with Beijing's rival claimants in the dispute. The United States routinely sends its warships and warplanes to the South China Sea to assert what it calls its "right" to "freedom of navigation." China has always warned the US against military activities in the sea. Beijing says potential close military encounters between the air and naval forces of the two countries in the region may spark conflict.
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