The Chinese military said an American naval ship had “illegally intruded”, on Monday, into waters near the Second Thomas Shoal.
Thomas Shoal is the site of a hot territorial dispute between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
China mobilised its naval force to track the USS Gabrielle Giffords during the operation, according to a statement from the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater.
The U.S. Navy did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Chinese and Philippine naval and coast guard ships have confronted each other repeatedly around the Second Thomas Shoal in recent months.
This is as China tries to prevent the Philippines from resupplying and repairing a rusting warship that it intentionally ran aground in 1999 to serve as a military outpost.
Dwarfed by China’s military might, the Philippines has sought America’s help.
It agreed to an expansion of the U.S. military presence in the country earlier this year.
They launched joint sea and air patrols with the U.S. late last month.
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China says the U.S. is meddling in waters far from its shores and renewed its accusation that America is the one raising regional tensions.
This is following the sailing of the USS Giffords, a littoral combat ship designed to operate in coastal areas, near Second Thomas Shoal.
“The U.S. deliberately disrupted the situation in the South China Sea. It seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security and seriously undermined regional peace and stability.
The U.S. also seriously violated international law and basic norms governing international relations.
It thus, fully demonstrates that the U.S. is the biggest threat to peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the statement from the Chinese military’s Southern Theater said.
China has staked claim to virtually all of the reefs and other outcroppings in the South China Sea.
It is building some islands with runways that could be used by the military.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also say they are the rightful owners of territory in the same waters in a complex web of overlapping claims. (AP News)