US sails warship near Chinese-controlled islands in South China Sea

The United States Navy said on Friday that it sailed a warship near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea as part of a freedom of navigation operation, the first to be ordered under President Biden’s administration.

Reuters reported that China immediately denounced the move and sent air and naval units to follow the ship and warned it to retreat.

China has previously urged the U.S. to stop sailing ships in the South China Sea and has called the actions “provocative.” The country has said that it has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and as well as the surrounding area.

According to the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, the ship “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law,” Reuters reported.

The Southern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army, however, accused the U.S. of “seriously infringing upon China’s sovereignty and security” and  “deliberately disrupting the good atmosphere of the South China Sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation,” according to Reuters.

The wire service also reported that the same U.S. ship, the destroyer USS John S. McCain, angered Beijing earlier this week when it passed through the Taiwan Strait.

China claimed control of the Paracel Islands in 1974 after a battle with Vietnam. Taiwan and Vietnam still continue to claim the islands.