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China says US warship Charleston 'illegally intruded' near Sabina Shoal
Beijing's Southern Theatre Command sent naval forces to track the ship in the Spratly Islands and told Washington to stop, in what looks like the first such US passage there in more than a year.
Key points
- China says the US warship Charleston entered waters near Sabina Shoal early on Tuesday.
- The Southern Theatre Command said the US move "infringes upon China's sovereign rights".
- Last month a China Coast Guard vessel rammed a Philippine boat near the same shoal.
China’s military said on Tuesday that a US warship had “illegally intruded” into waters next to Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, and that it had sent naval forces to track and monitor the ship.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command said the Charleston entered the waters in the Spratly Islands in the early hours of Tuesday without the approval of the Chinese government. The US action “infringes upon China’s sovereign rights and interests” and endangers maritime security, the command said, adding that Washington “should immediately cease such activities”.
The US Navy did not immediately respond. Washington usually describes such passages as freedom of navigation operations, meant to challenge what it sees as excessive maritime claims. Its last known operation of this kind in the South China Sea was more than a year ago.
A flashpoint with Manila
Sabina Shoal is claimed by both China and the Philippines, a US treaty ally, and has become one of the tensest spots in the sea. Last month a China Coast Guard vessel rammed a Philippine boat on a refuelling mission near the shoal.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims.
Because the Philippines has a mutual defence treaty with the United States, any US naval presence near the shoal is watched closely in Manila as well as Beijing. The Philippine government had not commented on Tuesday’s passage by early afternoon.