Beijing (AP) — China filed a second protest over US naval activity in the region on Thursday, alleging that a US vessel had invaded the territorial waters surrounding the Paracel Islands group in the South China Sea.
The PLA Southern Theater Command said the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur took “illegal” action on Thursday, mobilizing Chinese troops to demand its withdrawal from the area.
US actions “artificially increase regional security risks and are prone to misunderstandings, misjudgments and accidents at sea,” the statement said.
Chinese troops said they were determined to defend the country’s claim of sovereignty while maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, calling the ship’s operations “irresponsible, not experts.”
The United States regularly implements what is called freedom of navigation in order to refuse to accept China’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea and to claim its right to sail on the high seas.
China complained on Wednesday about Wilbur’s passage through the Taiwan Strait, also calling it a provocation that undermines the peace and stability of the region.
While the strait is on the high seas, China claims autonomous Taiwan as a dominion, and sees the presence of the US Navy near the island in support of an independent, democratically elected government.
China will build the world’s largest navy and coast guard on a large number of vessels, strengthen its strategically important island ownership in the South China Sea, load sand cement on coral reefs, and upgrade runways and other infrastructure. Created a new island outpost by placing it in.
It ignores rival territorial claims by smaller neighbors in Southeast Asia, and an international arbitration award declaring most of China’s claims in the South China Sea invalid.
Faced with the expansion of US military operations in the region, bold China has expressed increasing concern about possible conflicts and conflicts, whether intended or not.