China on Thursday issued its second protest in as many days over United States naval activity in the region, drawing an unusually sharp response from the US 7th Fleet, which accused Beijing of attempting to assert illegitimate maritime rights at the expense of its neighbours.
\nA statement from the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army\u2019s Southern Theatre Command said the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur illegally intruded into its territorial waters surrounding the Paracel island group in the South China Sea on Thursday. It said Chinese forces mobilised to track and monitor the ship and warned and expelled it. The Paracels are also claimed by Vietnam.
\nChina accused the US of increasing regional security risks, \u201cmisunderstandings, misjudgments, and accidents at sea.\u201d It called the ship\u2019s maneuvers unprofessional and irresponsible,\u201d saying Chinese forces were determined to defend the country\u2019s sovereign claims while maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.
\nThe US refuses to recognise China\u2019s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea and regularly conducts what it calls freedom of navigation operations to assert its right to sail in international waters.
\nIn its lengthy response, the 7th fleet said the operation upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging the unlawful restrictions on innocent passage.\u201d The PLAs statement about this mission is false. USS Curtis Wilbur was not expelled\u2019 from any nations territory,\u201d the statement said.
\n USS Curtis Wilbur conducted this FONOP (freedom of navigation operation) in accordance with international law and then continued on to conduct normal operations in international waters.\u201d It said that China\u2019s statement asserts its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims at the expense of the Southeast Asian neighbours in the South China Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
China on Wednesday issued a complaint over the Wilbur\u2019s passage through the Taiwan Strait, also calling it a provocation that undermined peace and stability in the region.<\/p>\n
While the strait is in international waters, China claims self-governing Taiwan as its own territory and regards the US Navy\u2019s presence near the island as providing support for its independence-leaning democratically elected government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China on Thursday issued its second protest in as many days over United States naval activity in the region, drawing an unusually sharp response from the US 7th Fleet, which accused Beijing of attempting to assert illegitimate maritime rights at the expense of its neighbours. A statement from the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army\u2019s Southern Theatre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n