US reacts to China's claims of US navy destroyer navigating in South China sea

Beijing earlier claimed to have driven a US Navy destroyer out of its claimed South China Sea territory. To refute the Chinese assertions, the same warship navigated through those seas. According to the US, guided missile destroyer USS Milius reaffirmed its freedom and right to navigate in the South China Sea close to the Paracel Islands following international law.

The warship carried out a FONOP, or freedom of navigation exercise. It contests the limitations on innocent people's freedom of movement enforced by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. All three claim ownership of the collection of about 130 small atolls known as the Xishas in China, the largest of which is where Chinese military bases are located.

Milius challenges China’s claims

According to the US, Milius disputed China's assertions about a "straight baseline enclosing the Paracels." It refers to Beijing's rights to the inland seas. even if those waterways are farther than the generally accepted 12 nautical mile threshold between territorial waters and the coastline.

Nearly the entire vast South China Sea area is regarded by China as falling within its territorial waters. The contested body of water contains numerous far-off islands and inlets, many of which Beijing has militarised. On those disputed islands in the Spratlys, known in China as the Nansha island, Beijing has erected military facilities in defiance of the UN decision.

China responded angrily to a US warship passing by the island it claims on Friday. Beijing claimed on Thursday that the People's Liberation Army had forced the Milius away from the Parcel Islands, but the US 7th Fleet rejected this assertion. Following other FONOPs, which the US routinely carries out in the vicinity of the Spratlys and the Parcel Islands to the south, Beijing has made similar assertions.

The Paracels are situated south of China's Hainan territory and east of Da Nang, Vietnam. Beijing frequently claims that any US Navy activity in the South China Sea area exacerbates tensions. It demonstrates how the security of the region is being compromised by Washington and its allies continued military presence in the area.

Additionally, China regularly conducts military drills in a large portion of the South China Sea and keeps a sizable number of fishing and Coast Guard vessels in the disputed seas, which frequently raises tensions with other countries.