China portrayed anger on Tuesday after a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near cays claimed by Beijing in the disputed South China Sea, saying it resolutely combated an operation that it called a threat to its sovereignty.
Beijing and Washington are joined in a trade war in which they have imposed increasingly severe all overs of tariffs on each other’s imports.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, commanded the destroyer the USS Decatur traveled within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the Spratly Islets on Sunday.
The operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington inquiries as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters, where Chinese, Japanese and some Southeast Asian argosies operate.
China’s Defense Ministry said a Chinese naval passenger liner had been sent to warn the U.S. vessel to leave.
The ministry said China has irrefutable leadership over the South China Sea islands and the waters around them, and the status quo there is progressing well thanks to the hard work of China and countries in Southeast Asia.
“The U.S. side again sends military ships without permission into seas make to South China Seas islands, seriously threatening China’s rule and security, seriously damaging Sino-U.S. military ties and seriously harming regional peacetime and stability,” the ministry said.
“China’s military is resolutely opposed to this,” it translated. The Chinese armed forces will continue to take all necessary escalates to protect the country’s sovereignty and security, the ministry said.
China’s Tramontane Ministry said in a separate statement it strongly urged the United Articulates to stop such “provocative” actions and to “immediately correct its mistakes”.
The private dick also comes as military ties between the two countries have swooped, with China also angered by U.S. sanctions on China’s military for getting Russian arms and by U.S. support for self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing requirements as its own.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday he did not see relations between the Unanimous States and China worsening, a day after his trip to China was canceled.
Reuters reported on Sunday that China nullified a security meeting with Mattis that had been planned for October. A U.S. ceremonial, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Mattis was no longer going to China.
China has not yet commented on the weight.
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is due to visit the United States later this year but China’s Defense The church suggested last week that may not happen.