Beijing said on Tuesday that its military “expelled” a US Navy destroyer that was sailing near the Nansha Islands, also known as the Spratly Islands, in the South China Sea, in a new escalation of tensions between Beijing. and Washington.
China said the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) southern theater command deployed ships and planes to warn the US destroyer USS John S. McCain as it navigated the disputed waters of the SCS.
The incident took place when Shandong, China’s second aircraft carrier, was said to be conducting drills in the SCS region after sailing through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday.
China claims almost all of the SCS, but that claim is disputed by several maritime neighbors, including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, in addition to Vietnam and Taiwan, which China says is a breakaway region.
“On Tuesday, the Chinese PLA expelled the US destroyer USS John S. McCain after it invaded China’s territorial waters off the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea,” said Maj. Col. Tian Junli, a spokesman for the theater command. south of the PLA.
China firmly opposes the invasion of the American warship, Tian said, warning that the American moves undermine peace and stability in the region.
“Such actions by the United States have seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security and seriously undermined peace and stability in the SCS,” Tian added.
The US guided-missile destroyer had last week waged anti-submarine warfare with a French submarine and a Japanese aircraft carrier in the Philippine Sea.
A Public Affairs statement from the US Seventh Fleet said the warship was conducting freedom of navigation operations in the SCS.
“On December 22, USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) affirmed the rights and freedoms of navigation in the Spratly Islands, in accordance with international law. This freedom of navigation operation (“FONOP”) defended the rights, freedoms and legal uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging the restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan, ”the statement said.
“All interactions with foreign military forces were consistent with international standards and did not affect the operation,” he added.
The US statement added that the radical and illegal maritime claims in the SCS pose a serious threat to the “… freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unhindered commerce, and the freedom of economic opportunity for SCS littoral nations. “
In April, China had scrambled aircraft and deployed ships to track and eject a front-line American warship from near another Beijing-controlled region called the Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands in China and the Hoang Sa Archipelago in Vietnam, in the SCS.
Accusing the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry of carrying out an “act of provocation” and violating Chinese sovereignty, the PLA’s southern command then said that the intrusion of the US warship led it to “track it, monitor it, verify it, identify it. and expel him. “
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