The Chinese military said on Thursday it warned a US warship to “abandon” in the disputed South China Sea, claims swiftly dismissed by US forces as “false”.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea – a strategic waterway through which trillions of dollars of trade passes annually – despite an international court ruling that the claim has no legal basis.
The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have overlapping claims in the sea, while the United States sends naval vessels through it to assert freedom of navigation in international waters.
The Southern Theater Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the USS Milius, a guided missile destroyer, entered the waters around the Paracel Islands on Thursday, which are also claimed by Vietnam.