China slams 'provocative' US sail-by in South China Sea
(Hải
quân Hoa Kỳ đi vào đảo Tri Tôn quần đảo Hoàng Sa)
China has slammed the US for sailing a warship near disputed territory in the South China Sea, saying the move was a "serious illegal act" and "deliberately provocative".
In a statement on its website late Friday night, the country's defence ministry said two Chinese naval vessels warned off a US ship after it entered "Chinese territorial waters" near the Paracel Islands, known as Xisha in Chinese.
China controls all of the islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The ship's "entrance into China's territorial waters is a serious illegal act and a deliberately provocative act," it said, adding that the ministry had made "solemn representations" to Washington.
In a separate online statement, the foreign ministry said the action had "seriously violated China's sovereignty and security interests, and had seriously broken relevant Chinese law and international law."
The Pentagon said Friday it had sent the destroyer USS Decatur close to the Paracel Islands, but that the ship had not passed within the 12 nautical mile zone that international law defines as territorial waters.
The ships transited the area in "a routine, lawful manner without ship escorts and without incident," a spokesman said.
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