China\u2019s military says it monitored and ordered U.S. Navy destroyer USS Higgins to leave waters near a disputed South China Sea territory, an area it claims as its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior Colonel He Tiecheng, spokesperson for the Chinese Southern Theater Command, said the USS Higgins \u201cillegally intruded\u201d into waters near Scarborough Shoal, which China refers to as Huangyan Island, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tiecheng said naval forces tracked, monitored, warned, and ordered the ship to leave \u201cin accordance with laws and regulations,\u201d describing the U.S. operation as a violation of China\u2019s sovereignty and a threat to regional stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scarborough Shoal is a disputed maritime feature in the South China Sea claimed by China, the Philippines, and Taiwan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The area lies within the Philippines\u2019 exclusive economic zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but China controls access to the shoal and asserts sweeping claims over most of the South China Sea based on what it calls \u201chistoric rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s expansive claims have been challenged by an international tribunal, which in 2016 ruled that its \u201cnine-dash line\u201d claim has no legal basis. Beijing has rejected the ruling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States regularly conducts what it calls freedom of navigation operations in the region, saying they are meant to uphold international law and ensure open access to the seas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the U.S. Navy have not yet issued a statement regarding the incident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China\u2019s military says it monitored and ordered U.S. Navy destroyer USS Higgins to leave waters near a disputed South China Sea territory, an area it claims as its own. Senior Colonel He Tiecheng, spokesperson for the Chinese Southern Theater Command, said the USS Higgins \u201cillegally intruded\u201d into waters near Scarborough Shoal, which China refers to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":57928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[144,2634,15,1862,731,151,3710],"class_list":["post-57927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-china","tag-chinese-military","tag-featured","tag-south-china-sea","tag-u-s-navy","tag-united-states","tag-uss-higgins"],"yoast_head":"\n