Two U.S. Navy warships sailed near South China Sea islands claimed by China on Sunday, two U.S. officials told Reuters, in a move likely to anger Beijing as President Donald Trump seeks its continued cooperation on North Korea, CNBC informed.
The U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Higgins guided-missile destroyer and the Antietam, a guided-missile cruiser, came within 12 nautical miles of the Paracel Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbors.
The U.S. military vessels carried out maneuvering operations near Tree, Lincoln, Triton and Woody islands in the Paracels, one of the officials said.
China says it dispatched warships to identify and warn off the pair of U.S. Navy vessels sailing near one of the islands.
A statement on the Defense Ministry’s website said the ships entered waters China claims in the Paracel island group “without the permission of the Chinese government.”
It said the Chinese military “immediately dispatched warships to identify and inspect the American ships according to law, and warned them to depart.”
China has controlled the Paracels entirely since violently seizing Vietnam’s holdings in the area in 1974. Called “Xisha” in Chinese, the islands have been incorporated into the southern province of Hainan and are being developed for tourism, as well as being equipped with weapon systems meant to enforce China’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea.
China earlier this month landed bomber aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons on its main base at Woody Island in the Paracels.
The U.S. military does not comment on the specifics of what it calls “freedom of navigation” exercises meant to assert the Navy’s right to sail and operate in any zone deemed legal under international law.
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