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China Warns U.S. Warship Sailing Through South China Sea

China Warns U.S. Warship Sailing Through South China Sea

(Bloomberg) -- China warned a U.S. warship sailing near disputed islands in the South China Sea that it was violating the country’s sovereignty and urged Washington to halt its “provocative” naval operations.

The People’s Liberation Army identified and conducted surveillance of the USS Wayne E. Meyer, a guided-missile destroyer, on Aug. 28 before warning it to leave, according to a post on the PLA southern command’s WeChat account.

“Facts have proven that the so-called ‘freedom of navigation’ of the United States is essentially a hegemony that ignores the rules of international law, seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests, and seriously undermines the stability of the South China Sea region,” said Senior Colonel Li Huamin, a spokesman for the southern command.

China Warns U.S. Warship Sailing Through South China Sea

The U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a statement that its warship had sailed within 12 nautical miles of both Fiery Cross and Mischief Reefs “in order to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law.” China has constructed airstrips and other buildings on reclaimed land over the two reefs.

This was the sixth U.S. freedom of navigation operation in the region in the past 12 months and the first since May. The U.S. warships USS Preble and USS Spruance conducted a freedom of navigation exercise near Mischief Reef in February.

The U.S. regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations in the Indo-Pacific and these are “not about any one country, nor are they about making political statements,” Seventh Fleet spokeswoman Commander Reann Mommsen said in an email. “All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows.”

The move is the latest source of naval tension between Washington and Beijing. Earlier this week, China denied a U.S. request for a port call to its eastern city of Qingdao, two weeks after refusing two American warships port visits to Hong Kong.

The naval dispute also factors into broader U.S.-China tensions as the two countries engage in a bruising trade war and American lawmakers criticize the Hong Kong government’s handling of pro-democracy protests that have raged for nearly three months. China has accused the U.S. of instigating protesters to violence and singled out an American diplomat’s meeting with a prominent Hong Kong activist as evidence of foreign interference -- claims that Washington denies.

To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Sheryl Tian Tong Lee in Hong Kong at slee1905@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh, Jon Herskovitz

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