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A US missile warship it claimed was conducting “free navigation” maneuvers near a disputed island in the South China Sea has sparked a nervous reaction from China.
In a reaction, Beijing said it had “kicked out” the warship that had illegally entered its territorial waters, near the disputed Paracel Islands.
US Navy spokesman Lt. Nicholas Lingo said the naval deployment was the second this year and was specifically aimed at “China’s exaggerated claims” in regional waters.
Beijing added that the Chinese navy’s Southern Theater had warned the US warship to leave its “territorial waters.”
“The US military’s actions have violated China’s sovereignty and security in the South China Sea region,” said Chinese Air Force Colonel Tian Junli.
China claims ownership of the Paracel archipelago — a collection of 130 small coral islands in the northwestern sea.
They are located about 250 miles east of Vietnam and 220 miles southeast of China’s Hainan Island, but the region is claimed by the US, and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
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