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China accuses US of 'stirring up' South China Sea tensions
"On December 4, littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords illegally entered the waters adjacent to Ren'ai Reef in the Nansha region of China without the approval of the Chinese government," Southern Theatre Command spokesman Tian Junli said.
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This handout photo from the US Navy taken on November 20, 2021 shows the US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) sailing in the South China Sea. China simulated “sealing off“ Taiwan during a third day of wargames around the self-ruled island on April 10, 2023, as the United States deployed a naval destroyer into Beijing-claimed waters in a show of force. (AFP/US Navy/Omar-Kareem Powell)
C
hina on Monday said the United States was responsible for "deliberate stirring up" of tensions in the South China Sea, after a US warship navigated through waters claimed by Beijing.
"On December 4, littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords illegally entered the waters adjacent to Ren'ai Reef in the Nansha region of China without the approval of the Chinese government," Southern Theatre Command spokesman Tian Junli said.
The US Navy said the USS Gabrielle Giffords, an Independence-class littoral combat ship, was conducting routine operations in international waters in the South China Sea, consistent with international law.
"Every day the US 7th Fleet operates in the South China Sea, as they have for decades," the US Navy said in a statement. "These operations demonstrate we are committed to upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific region."
In recent months, China has had several runs-ins with Philippine vessels, and protested about U.S. ships patrolling disputed areas.
The Second Thomas Shoal -- referred to in Chinese as Ren'ai Reef -- is about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
China's military on Monday "followed the entire operation", said Tian, adding that the "deliberate stirring up of the South China Sea by the United States is a serious infringement of China's sovereignty and security".
"Troops in the theatre of command maintain a high state of alert at all times, resolutely defending national sovereignty and security".
Beijing has ignored a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that its claims to almost the entire sea have no legal basis.
China has ramped up patrols of the waters and reefs in the South China Sea over the past decade or so, and built artificial islands that it has militarised to reinforce its assertion.
