Chinese military expels US warship from South China Sea

(MENAFN) The Chinese military, on Saturday, expelled a United States warship from the disputed Xisha/Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. A spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army characterized Washington as a "security risk maker" and the "biggest destroyer" of peace and stability in the region.

The intrusion of the guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper into China's territorial waters "severely jeopardized" Beijing's sovereignty and, according to the spokesman for the PLA's Southern Theater Command, senior colonel Tian Junli, demonstrated that Washington is actively pursuing "navigation hegemony" and the "militarization" of the South China Sea.

The Chinese army sent “air and naval forces to follow and monitor” the interloper, and “drove it away according to law,” a Chinese news agency declares. The Pentagon has yet to comment on the incident.

The Xisha Islands, internationally recognized as the Paracel Islands, are a contested archipelago in the South China Sea, de facto governed by China. While China claims sovereignty over the islands, Vietnam and Taiwan also assert their claims. Washington does not acknowledge China's sovereignty over the islands, labeling it as "unlawful" and "a serious threat to the freedom of the seas."

There have been prior instances where American battleships were "caught trespassing" close to the Paracel Islands. In March of this year, the Chinese Navy "warned away" the destroyer USS Milius from the area, and twice in 2022, the USS Benfold was pursued away.

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