China’s military said on Wednesday it monitored and “drove away” a US destroyer that sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, while the US Navy said its action was in line with international law.
The first known American military operation in at least six years within the shoal’s waters came a day after the Philippines accused Chinese vessels of “dangerous manoeuvres and unlawful interference” during a supply mission around the atoll.
The USS Higgins is shown passing through the Taiwan Strait in 2022.Credit: AP
In a statement, the Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command said the USS Higgins had entered the waters “without approval of the Chinese government” on Wednesday.
“The US move seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, severely undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea,” it added, vowing to keep a “high alert at all times”.
The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said the Higgins had “asserted navigational rights and freedoms” near the Scarborough Shoal “consistent with international law”.
The operation reflected the US commitment to uphold freedom of navigation and lawful uses of the sea, it told Reuters in an emailed statement.
“The United States is defending its right to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Higgins did here. Nothing China says otherwise will deter us.”
The USS Higgins is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer.
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