China condemns US warship near South China Sea island as 'serious provocation'

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a statement late last night that China had dispatched military vessels and fighter planes in response to warn of the US vessel. On Sunday, the missile destroyer USS Stethem "trespassed China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands", state run Xinhua news agency reported.

The US behaviour constitutes a serious political and military provocation, Lu said, stressing that the Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed it. Stethem passed less than 22 kms from tiny Triton Island in the Paracel Islands archipelago, which China calls Xisha islands. The island chain is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

While China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, the other countries to partially counterclaim over the area are Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. This is the second US naval ship to have passed the disputed islands after President Donald Trump came to power. The US has been periodically sending the naval ships and planes to the South China Sea to assert freedom of navigation challenging China's claims of sovereignty.

China comes out with similar reaction every time the US naval ships pass through the area. Lu said the Islands are an inherent part of the Chinese territory, noting that in accordance with the Law of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, the Chinese government promulgated the baseline of the territorial sea off the Xisha Islands in 1996

"The relevant Chinese law has explicit provisions on foreign military vessels' entry into the territorial sea of China," Lu said. Under the pretext of "navigation freedom," the US once again sent a military vessel into China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands without China's approval, Lu said.