China’s military on Tuesday claimed to have “expelled” a US Navy destroyer which sailed through the disputed South China Sea challenging Beijing’s claims over the area.
US naval ships regularly sail through the disputed South China Sea (SCS) in a bid to assert freedom of navigation in the region.
China claims almost all of the 1.3 million square mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory. China has been building military bases on artificial islands in the region also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
China has impeded commercial activity like fishing or mineral exploration by countries like Vietnam and the Philippines.
On Tuesday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command said that the US destroyer USS John S McCain “trespassed into waters near China’s Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands), without the authorisation of the Chinese Government”.