The United States sent a destroyer into the disputed waters of the South China Sea

The United States sent a destroyer into the waters of the disputed Sunday Paracelsian Islands, in the South China Sea, in a navigation operation that angered Beijing, whose military authorities claimed to have pursued the ship.

The US Navy, in a statement from the 7th Fleet public affairs office, dismissed the Chinese statement as false, but did not give details of a possible meeting with PLA forces.

The USS Benfold conducted the operation “in accordance with international law and thereafter continued to conduct normal operations in international waters.”, according to the press release. The Chinese statement was “the latest in a long series of actions by China to distort the legal maritime operations of the United States and enforce its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims,” ​​the Navy added.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei claim parts of this strategic sea through which circulates 30% of world trade, in addition to harboring oil and gas deposits, while China claims sovereignty over these waters in their entirety.

By carrying out this operation, the United States has demonstrated that these waters are beyond what China can legally claim as its territorial sea, and that the straight baselines claimed by China around the Paracelsian Islands are incompatible with the international law, ”the US Navy said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday warned China against its “threats” to the Philippines and He reiterated that any “armed attack” would activate defense commitments between the two countries.

In a statement from the State Department of the North American country, he stressed that “nowhere is the maritime order based on international rules more threatened than in the South China Sea” because “China continues to coerce and intimidate” Southeast Asian countries.

The message was also launched on the fifth anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in which the Philippines agreed in its maritime dispute with China and determined that the latter country has no rights “Historic” to hold on claim certain areas of the South Sea.

Finally, Blinken called on China “to comply with its obligations under international law” and stop your provocative behavior ”.

Hours later, the Chinese military released its version of the raid on the US ship. The USS Benfold “had entered Chinese territorial waters without the authorization of the Chinese government,” according to a statement posted on the official account of the southern theater of operations command on the social network WeChat.

The PLA issued a warning to the destroyer and its naval forces followed suit, command spokesperson Tian Junli said in the statement.

The destroyer’s behavior “is a violation of Chinese sovereignty, compromises the peace and stability of the South China Sea and violates fundamental principles of law and international relations,” according to the statement, which also accused the United States of to be the real destabilizing force. In the region.

(With information from AP, Europa Press and Reuters)

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