latest news on us warship sails in show of force

China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier sailing during a drill in the South China Sea in 2018.

In recent years, China has aggressively pursued its territorial claims in the South China Sea, building small shoals and reefs into military bases with airstrips and port facilities. The Chinese military on Friday accused the US ship of entering “China’s territorial waters” near the islands “without authorization.”Ĭhinese forces tracked the warship and then warned it to leave, said military spokesman Li Huamin. The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet said in a statement that the USS Mustin, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed Thursday “in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands to ensure critical shipping lanes in the area remain free and open.” The US regularly conduct “freedom of navigation operations” in the area to challenge Chinese territorial claims. The Thursday operation came a day after China fired ballistic missiles into the sea as part of ongoing live-fire exercises, inflaming already high tensions between Washington and Beijing.

An American warship sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the US Navy has said, challenging Beijing’s claims on the resource-rich waterway and prompting a warning from the Chinese military.

Latest news on us warship sails in show of force