In the latest exchange of salvos, China said on Thursday a U.S. warship had illegally entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea, an assertion the United States denied.
A United States Navy warship USS Curtis Wilbur sailed near disputed Beijing-controlled islands in the South China Sea on Thursday. Beijing, which claims almost all the South China Sea as its territory, said the movement of the US warship violated its sovereignty.
In a statement, the Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command said the USS Curtis Wilbur entered the waters near the Paracel islands without permission. The US action “artificially increases regional security risks, and is prone to misunderstandings, misjudgments, and accidents at sea,” the statement said. It is the second time in two days that China has released a statement condemning the actions of the US warship.
However, the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the vessel “asserted navigational rights and freedoms” near the Paracel islands, over which China, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim sovereignty. The Chinese military’s comments about the mission were false, it added. On Tuesday, USS Curtis Wilbur transited the Taiwan Strait, which separates self-ruled Taiwan under a democratically elected government from mainland China. Beijing also says Taiwan is part of its sovereign territory, but the self-ruled island has got strong backing from Washington. China on Wednesday denounced the presence of the US destroyer in the strait.
The South China Sea has become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship between China and the United States, with Washington rejecting what it calls unlawful territorial claims by Beijing in the resource-rich waters. U.S. warships have passed through the South China Sea with increasing frequency in recent years, in a show of strength against the Chinese claims.
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