China 'drove away' US destroyer USS Halsey in South China Sea, says military

China said that it had monitored and warned a US Navy destroyer USS Halsey in the contentious South China Sea, mere days after the vessel’s passage through the Taiwan Strait provoked China’s discontent.

The Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army said in a statement on Friday that China’s military “drove away” US Navy destroyer that entered the territorial waters of Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on May 10.

Despite an international ruling dismissing its claims as legally unfounded, Beijing asserts control over nearly the entire South China Sea. It maintains a substantial presence of coast guard, navy, and other vessels to patrol and fortify the region.

The US move “seriously infringed on China’s sovereignty and security,” the military said. “It is yet another iron proof of its navigation hegemony and militarization of the South China Sea,” it said, adding its troops would stay on high alert and safeguard national security.

The U.S. Navy said in a statement the destroyer asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands “consistent with international law.”

The USS Halsey exited the area after its operation and continued on in the South China Sea, the statement said.

The latest dispute between China and the U.S. came amid heightened tensions in the strategic South China Sea, with U.S. ally the Philippines embroiled in an bitter diplomatic row with Beijing over disputed waters in the region.

China claims large swaths of the South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 ruled that Beijing’s claims had no basis under international law.

Friday’s naval spat between US and Chinese forces came just days after the USS Halsey sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180-kilometre body of water separating the island from China.

Chinese naval colonel Li Xi called the US warship passage “public hype”.

He added in a statement late on Wednesday that the Eastern Theatre Command had also organised naval and air forces “to monitor the passage of the US ship through the entire process”.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not rule out using force to bring the island under Beijing’s control.

Taiwanese defence and coast guard officials on Thursday reported dozens of Chinese warplanes and ships had been detected around the island.

With inputs from agencies.