China warns US warships in South China Sea

MANILA, Philippines — China has deployed naval ships and aircraft to warn off two United States warships which Beijing accused of entering its territorial waters without permission from the Chinese government.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense said the two US warships – the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam and the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins – sailed near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The US warships, which were conducting freedom of navigation operations, passed within 12 miles of four islands – Tree, Lincoln, Triton and Woody.

The Chinese Defense Ministry said the two US warships’ entry into China’s territorial waters is serious infringement on China’s sovereignty.

Wu Qian, spokesman for the ministry, made the remarks on Sunday when asked about Chinese military’s comments on the US warships’ provocation.

Two US warships entered China’s territorial waters on May 27 without permission from the Chinese government, according to Wu.

“Chinese military took immediate actions by dispatching naval ships and aircraft to conduct legal identification and verification of the US warships and warn them off,” Wu said.

“The Chinese side is firmly opposed to such provocative and arbitrary actions by the US side, which undermined strategic mutual trust between the two militaries and damaged peace, security and good order in relevant waters,” he added.

The spokesman stressed that “Chinese military is unshakably determined to strengthen its naval and air combat readiness, raise defense level, safeguard national sovereignty and security and maintain regional peace and stability.”

The US raised its concerns about the militarization of the South China Sea following China’s deployment of bombers on an outpost in the South China Sea.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who hosted Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Washington last week for their first meeting, raised US concerns about the militarization of the South China Sea.

Wang defended China’s building of defense facilities in the South China Sea and called the deployment of Chinese bombers “normal” and has nothing to do with militarization.

“On the so-called militarization in the South China Sea, we talked about this issue just now. China is only building civilian and some necessary defense facilities on our own islands. That is the right to self-defense and preservation of every sovereign state,” Wang said in a joint press briefing with Pompeo.

China downplayed the landing of Chinese bombers in the South China Sea and the full militarization of the disputed waters, saying there is no need to “over-interpret” the “normal” activities of its military.

“It is a normal deployment and has nothing to do with militarization, just like the US has military presence in Hawaii, in Guam. And China’s deployment is at a much smaller scale than that of the US. It’s just out of necessary defense purposes. We don’t hope to see any exaggeration or hype-up of this matter,” Wang said.

The US disinvited China from participating in the military exercises in the South China Seas, a decision Wang called “unconstructive.”

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