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"The actions of the U.S. military seriously violated China's
sovereignty and security," said Tian Junli, spokesman for the
Southern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army.
The ship in question, the USS Chancellorsville guided-missile
cruiser, had recently sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
In a statement, the U.S. Navy said the Chinese statement was
"false", calling it "the latest in a long string of PRC actions
to misrepresent lawful U.S. maritime operations".
"USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) conducted this FONOP in accordance
with international law and then continued on to conduct normal
operations in waters where high seas freedoms apply," the
statement said, referring to a "freedom of navigation operation"
by its military acronym. "The United States is defending every
nation's right to fly, sail, and operate wherever international
law allows."
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, and the waters
have become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship
between it and the United States.
The United States rejects what it calls China's unlawful
territorial claims in the resource-rich waters.
U.S. warships have passed through the South China Sea with
increasing frequency in recent years in an effort to show the
Chinese claims are not valid.
Earlier, China's military said the U.S. cruiser's latest passage
showed that the United States was a "security risk maker" in the
South China Sea and "is another iron-clad proof of its hegemony
in the navigation and militarization of the South China Sea".
China's military said its troops would remain on high alert, the
Southern Theatre Command wrote on its WeChat social media
account.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing
by Himani Sarkar, Robert Birsel and Gerry Doyle)
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